Still Winds and Old Friends
by Thorizard
Summary: Ash has lost all of his Pokémon to the clutches of an unusually vicious Team Rocket. Without any of his Pokémon, Ash must find a way to save his friends. He must find his friends from years before if he will ever see Pikachu again. AshxRebecca Primeshipping
1. Broken Windmill

The clouds roll slowly across the sky. I let out a long sigh as I sit up and look over at Pikachu. He's curled up with a smile on his little, round face, and I wonder what he could be dreaming about. The breeze drifts lazily by, and the grass brushes the red circle on his cheek. He whimpers sleepily and scratches his face as he slowly opens his eyes to look at me. I smile at my best friend, and he sits up.

"Pika" he says.

"Hey, Pikachu," I say back as he stands up and walks over to me. I hold my hand out to him, and he climbs up my arm onto my shoulder. I stand up with him, and we look out over the shrine of Shamouti Island into the sparkling blue ocean. "I love coming back here for the Legend Festival. It reminds me of Tracey and Misty and Melody. Team Rocket helped us that day."

"Pikachu," he says.

"And I'll never forget Lugia," I continue. "He taught me to believe in myself more than anyone else has."

"Pika Pika!" he says excitedly, pointing out into the ocean. A yacht is pulling out of the bay on its way to some other island in the Orange Archipelago, and Melody is waving back at me.

"Bye, Melody!" I shout, waving my arm high in the air. I can't hear her, and she probably can't hear me, but I can't resist trying to say goodbye. I only get to see her once a year. I'd probably visit more if she flirted a little less with me, but she's still a good friend.

"Let's get going, pal," I say and start waking away from the shrine down to the Pokémon Center. "Professor Oak should be picking us up soon, and I want to get something to eat before we leave."

"Chu Pika!" he says back.

We walk into the Pokémon Center amid some annoying pop song and the light chatter of a few trainers and townspeople.

"His name's Shirahama, I think," someone says as his friends listen closely. I can't help wanting to eavesdrop. "He uses fighting types, and anyways, supposedly he's done great against the first three Orange League crew members. I think Drake's gonna have his hands pretty dang full soon."

"Drake with his hands full," his friend says mockingly. "That Dragonite is nearly untouchable, and getting to it is a hell of a challenge anyways. I've see Drake beaten two- maybe three- times in my whole life, and until that kid from Pallet did it like ten years ago, I thought it was impossible."

The talk about Drake brings back too many memories for me to keep track of. All I can see is Pikachu going down, and then _"Hyper Beam!_"That was easily one of the scariest moments of my life. I thought it was all over, but Pikachu and I found a way to win.

"Hi Ash," Nurse Joy greets me with a warm smile on her face.

"Hi, Nurse Joy," I say as I walk up to her front desk. "Is there any chance you have a sandwich for me?"

"Pika!" my buddy shouts.

I laugh at his concern. "And my little pal wants a little grub too, if that's alright."

"No problem, Chosen One," she says with a wink, and I shake my and laugh. It's been almost ten years, and they still call me that.

She disappears behind the storage door, and I find a seat in a nearby booth. Pikachu jumps off my shoulder and sits across from me on the table. I smile at him. He scratches his ear and smiles back.

"Chansey, Chansey, Chansey," the pink mascot chants as it lays the food on our table. I dig into the steaming sandwich immediately, and Pikachu dives into the bowl of Pokémon food.

"I'm telling you, man," another guy says. "The only way to win is to take out the other side's Pokémon. If you want to do that, you need strong, fast Pokémon who can sweep the other team."

"Yeah, that's nice and all," his friend says, "but what do you do if those twigs take a hit. If you want to win consistently, you need defense and toughness. You have to be able to set up a strategy and stall until the other guy makes a mistake, then capitalize."

"Yeah, and what do _you _do if your wall gets broken down by a superior attacker?" the first guy says.

I shake my head and laugh quietly at the narrow-minded sides. If I've learned anything, it's that there is a counter to every strategy you pull. The only way to win consistently is to work hard with what you have, gain your Pokémons trust, and then get really lucky.

"Ash," Nurse Joy calls as I finish my lunch. I stand up, and Pikachu jumps on my shoulder. "You have a call from Pallet Town."

"Thanks, Nurse Joy," I say, walking over to the video-phone booth.

I pick up the transceiver and press _Return_. Professor Oaks face appears, holding the phone on the other side of the sea.

"Hi, Professor Oak," I say confused. He should be in the helicopter coming to get me. "What's going on?"

"Pika!" Pikachu shouts, and I pet him to keep him calm.

"Hi, Ash," he says. "I'm sorry, but I won't be able to pick you up today. I've been so caught up with new trainers that I couldn't leave the lab."

"That's alright, Professor," I say back. I don't want him to think I'm too bummed out about it, but I do like the helicopter. "I can take the ferry."

"No, that's alright, Ash," he says. "Call Professor Ivy, and she should be able to help you. I'd send someone, but I'm just so busy."

"Okay, I'll do that!" I say upbeat. She might take me in a helicopter after all.

"Ask her to bring that Lapras she's been telling me about," he says. "I think I may be able to help it."

"Alright," I say. He probably doesn't want to tell me exactly what is going on with the Lapras or he would just say it.

"You should visit your friends more, Ash," he says. "Goodbye and safe travels."

"Bye, Professor Oak," I say as the screen goes black. I wonder what he meant by that. My friends all have their own responsibilities, and I visit them every now and then.

I dial Professor Ivy's number and wait for her to answer. Pikachu rubs his fur on my neck. I can't stop from smiling, and I pet him again.

"Hello, this is Professor Ivy," she says, appearing on the screen. "How can I be of service?"

"Hi, Professor Ivy," I say with a smile.

"Oh, hi Ash," she says. "What do you need?"

"I'm on Shamouti Island, and I was waiting for Professor Oak to pick me up, but he said he got held up," I say. "Would you please help me out?"

"Yes, I'll head over in my helicopter now," she says. "I'll be there in less than an hour."

"Thank you so much, Professor Ivy!" I say excitedly.

"Pika Pi!" my buddy says, mimicking my enthusiasm.

We each hang up, and I turn around. I bow to Nurse Joy and thank her before walking over to the know-it-alls who are still defending their invincible strategies of defense or offense.

* * *

I stand up immediately as the air starts to pulse around me. The noise quickly grows louder until Pikachu's cries are completely inaudible though he is perched on my shoulder, and covering my ears helps nothing. The grass ripples in concentric circles as the thunderous machine descends onto the field of grass behind the legendary Shrine of Shamouti.

I grab desperately for my hat but realize that I forgot it at my mom's house before I left for the Legend Festival here. I march toward the helicopter, covering Pikachu's face and mine with my jacket. Professor Ivy waves shortly at me as I climb into the seat beside her. Pikachu jumps off my shoulder and into my lap, shaking his ruffled fur until it flattens. I pick up the headphones and gratefully put them on, nullifying the chaotic noise.

"How are you Ash?" her voice says into the radio. It is the only noise I can hear now.

"I'm doing great, Professor Ivy!" I say. "It's always great to be here for the Legend Festival. Brings back so many memories."

"Yeah," she says in slow monotone. I forgot how her voice can almost depress me when I hear it in person. "I've never been one for those sorts of celebrations. Usually, I'm far too busy for that, but you caught me at a lucky time. I had _just_ finished feeding all of the Horsea."

"Well, that is lucky, huh?" I say and force myself to laugh as she does in her weird way.

We stay silent for a while as the silence starts to lull me to sleep. The only thing keeping me awake is Pikachu's sudden movements every now and then. He keeps scratching that ear. I should get him checked for fleas as soon as I get back to Pallet.

"How are Brock and Misty?" she asks, jolting me to attention. "And Tracey."

It takes me a moment to register the meaning of the statement. "Oh, they're doing great. Tracey is as happy as he could be now that he finally got out of Professor Oak's lab and into the field on his own. He was in Snowpoint City last time he sent me an email."

"That's good news," she says.

"Misty is still at Cerulean Gym," I continue, "but I heard a rumor that she might be joining the Elite Four when Koga retires next year."

"That's exciting," she says unexcitedly.

"Yeah," I say. "We don't talk very much now. I heard from someone she got a boyfriend."

"What's Brock up to?" she asks with the slightest amount of vigor.

I was waiting for that. She does still like Brock. I stifle a smile and explain, "Well, he's a Pokémon doctor as you probably heard. He travels around Kanto and Johto mostly, but I ran into him in Sinnoh a couple months ago."

"Is he dating anyone?" she asks.

I've been dying for her to ask that. "He got engaged to Lucy from the Kanto Battle Frontier last year. The wedding is in October."

"Oh," she says. The excitement fell out of that last word like the last grain of sand in an hourglass.

She doesn't say anything for the rest of the ride to Pallet. I feel fine with that. She has helped me a lot in the past, but she hurt Brock in an awful way. I had to make Team Rocket blast off ten times before I could even get the story out of him.

* * *

Pikachu and I wave to Professor Ivy as she flies away. I put the Pokéball she gave me in my pocket. We each turn around and walk side-by-side up the hill to Professor Oak's lab. The windmill is still even though the wind is blowing.

"I wish we could go visit Mom afterwards," I say to Pikachu as he bounces up the hill. "It's too bad she's still on vacation, but I'm glad she took Mr. Mime with her this time. He'd get so lonely without her."

"Pi, Pi, Pi, Pi," my buddy says, bouncing along.

"Hi, Professor Oak!" I shout as I walk through the front door.

No one answers. I take a right and open the door to the living room.

I can't move. Professor Oak is seated on the couch, handcuffed with his mouth duct-taped.

Jesse holds a gun to his temple.

"Pika_chu_!" I hear my friend shout.

"Prepare for trouble, you little piece of shit," she says slowly.

I open my mouth, but nothing comes out.

"Give us all your Pokémon on the double," James says.

I can't move. I know what he said, but I can't-

The gunshot echoes all around me. I can still hear Professor Oak mumbling his cries under the tape. She shot the wall behind him.

She whispers, "Hurry the hell up."

"Pika!" Pikachu shouts, turning to me and waving his arms. "Pika Pika Chu Pi!"

I look down at Pikachu. I close my mouth after a moment. I look back at Professor Oak. I can't tell if his eyes are pleading for me to save him or the Pokémon, but I can imagine which he'd pick even if he's too afraid to shake his head.

I try to swallow, but my throat is too dry. I know it's not what Professor Oak wants, but-

"Please, take five more minutes, you worthless twerp," James says as he pulls out a handgun and cocks it. He points it at the ground behind the couch. "Right, Bulby?"

Bulbasaur walks out from behind the couch with his head down. He's trembling as his claws dig into the carpet with each step. I look at Professor Oak as tears stream down his face. I know he'd die for the Pokémon, but neither of us could let Bulbasaur die. I don't have a choice.

"Alright," I say quietly. I clear my throat and say a little louder, "Alright. I'll do it."

"Pika! Pi! Pi! Chu!" Pikachu shouts, waving his arms. He wants to protect his friends, but there is no way. I tune him out.

I grab each Pokéball from my belt and roll them on the floor toward James. I ignore Pikachu's cries. I look away from him when I finish, glaring at James. His cocky smile burns my eyes. Jesse bursts into laughter. My fist is clenched so tightly, that my nails draw blood from my palms.

She ceases laughing. "Get the hell over here, Pikachu," she says.

I don't look at him. I can't. I keep staring at Jesse with her gun pointed at Professor Oak's temple. There's nothing I can do.

"Aren't you gonna say goodbye to your best friend, Ash?" James says. "Why don't you tell him a lie? Tell him he'll see you again. Tell him he'll be happy."

I force myself to look at Pikachu as he stands beside Jesse, looking back at me through the tears. "I'll save you, Pikachu. I'll make them pay."

"Speaking of paying," Meowth says in his infuriating voice, "it's time for you to pay for every time that we suffered because of you, twerp." He stabs Pikachu with a hypodermic needle, forcing my friend to cry out in pain for a moment before falling flat on the carpet.

I take in a deep breath and let it out slowly to control myself. I can't make a mistake now, or Team Rocket will just kill us all.

"He's ours now, twerp. He's going to pay," Meowth says as he puts my friend into a rubber sack. His smile vanishes. "But you need to pay too."

The gunshot sounds muffled this time as Professor Oak's face disappears. The red splatters on the carpet, staining James and Bulbasaur in slow motion.

I can't move. The tears run now. They killed him. They're going to kill me too.

Jesse lifts her arm slowly, aiming the gun at me.

The window crashes, shattering glass across the carpet as I close my eyes and shield my face.

"Saur!" Bulbasaur shouts.

"Shit!" Jesse screams.

Something grabs me by my jacket, tearing through my clothes and lifting me into the air as I hurtle toward the wall with it. The air turns purple for a moment as I spiral through the breaking wall with my savior. I hear another gunshot as I soar out of the lab and into the sky.

I look at the talons holding onto me and recognize them immediately. I look up at the feathers and wide wingspan supporting me. Finally, I see Pidgeot's face as he stares ahead into the clouds where we ascend. I let the tears fall down my face.

But as I look ahead at the clouds, I can only think of Pikachu and that last gunshot. Were they aiming for me? Did they kill Bulbasaur? Did they kill Pikachu?

* * *

I sit against the tree with Pidgeot perched on the grass next to me. I look into the creek ahead of me, but it isn't what I want. I wanted to see visions of Pikachu or Professor Oak or Bulbasaur or anyone. All I see is streaming water. All I feel is the lines down my cheeks from the hours of crying. Pidgeot has sat next to me the entire time, silent and still. Everything is silent. The wind won't blow. The water barely moves. All I hear is my breathing.

I stand up, unable to take the silence anymore. Pidgeot looks at me and coos with interest. "I have to do something. Pikachu is in trouble, and I know the only thing that I could do for Professor Oak is save the Pokémon."

Pidgeot nods, cooing lowly. "But what do I do? You're all I have right now, Pidgeot. We can't take out Jesse and James."

"Dgyot," he says.

"It's odd," I continue. "They've done some nasty things before. I understand that they might be desperate, but they've _never_ killed someone before. Not like that, at least. Not the Jesse and James I've known all my life."

I start pacing in front of my friend by the water's edge. "They just shot-" I choke on the words. It's too fresh to say it. "They've never done that before. There must be something bigger going on than just their need to make some money."

Pidgeot coos again. "I can't worry too much about that yet. I need to take some action. If we can't do this on our own, then we need to go get some help."

"Pi-dgeot!" he shouts.

"Alright, then," I say. "I don't know where Brock is, but I doubt he's close. However, Misty is at Cerulean Gym, guaranteed, and I bet she'll help me."

Pidgeot bows low as I walk up to him and pet the feathers on his neck. The long, red and gold feathers trailing his back from the crown of his head are so beautiful. I've missed them and the friend that he was for me so many years ago. I pull myself up and straddle his neck as he lifts, spreading his wings.

"Cerulean City, be prepared," I say, trying to smile confidently. I can't do it though. I'm not ready for this. All I can think about is Professor Oak's death. All I can hear is Pikachu crying. All I can see is the broken windmill telling me to stay away.

My friend coos very lowly, and I can feel the vibrations of his vocal chords. I pet his feathers lightly and inhale deeply. I can't be confident right now, but I can be grateful. I've never faced anything this tough, but I'm not alone. "I'm not alone," I say.

We soar.


	2. Gyarados Attacks

Pidgeot sets down on the concrete outside of Cerulean Gym, and I hop off. I try to stretch my back out, but it's too stiff after that long flight where I could only lean forward and hold on tight. My friend shakes his feathers out as I try to get some movement in me.

I look up at the gym's insignia and remember what gym battling used to mean to me. It meant traveling with my friends for our goals, all fully supporting each other. It meant time with Misty and Brock. I remember the dedication and elation, the challenge and failure. I remember the battle with Misty and receiving the Cascade Badge.

I did it by saving the Pokémon from Team Rocket. It was so easy back then, like they wanted me to beat them time after time so it would be that much sweeter when they finally broke me. The thought of them makes me shake. What they did, I can never forgive. They will pay.

I take in a deep breath. I need Misty's help, and anger isn't going to get me that. I walk calmly along the path with Pidgeot at my side, noticing how different the gym looks from when I challenged it ten years ago. It used to look like a typical circus, but now there are dozens of Water-types swimming around in the aquarium dome, which I heard contains most of the gym's volume around the walls and in tunnels around the place. I know her Gyarados must be in there somewhere, and I shudder to think of how strong it can be now when used in a real battle outside the gym.

As I open the door, there is a flyer on the glass advertising some Pokémon fighting match. I step inside and see a cooler on the left. I can't imagine what has gone wrong with this world. Gyms used to employ a random homeless guy every day just to hand out those waters, and he'd get to take the extras home with him. It's ridiculous the selfishness people have.

"Hello," says a woman at the front desk with a fake smile before looking down at her computer again. "Please swipe your Pokédex, sir, and we'll schedule you for a challenge at the earliest possible time."

"Actually," I say, petting Pidgeot who likely feels uncomfortable inside, "I'm here to talk to Misty."

"Leader Misty is the middle of a gym battle at the moment," she says, not looking up at me. "Can I take a message?"

"I would rather speak to her in person," I say. "I don't mind waiting."

"Very well," she says. "Give me your name, and we'll call you when she's ready."

"Thank you, " I say. "My name is Ash Ketchum."

"Very well," she says, still looking down as she types away. "Please take a seat, and let us know if there is anything we can do for you."

"Is it alright if I sit outside?" I ask. "My Pidgeot is not a fan of being inside, especially with all of these Water-types floating above it."

"Very well," she says with a sigh. I didn't know I was this much of a bummer on her day. "We'll call you on the PA speaker. Don't go too far."

"Thank you," I say with a short bow.

She sighs again. "You're welcome."

I look at Pidgeot, nodding toward the door, and he bolts outside where he immediately stretches his wings. I walk out behind him and pet the feathers along his back.

"Are you going to the fight tonight?" a man asks his girlfriend as they hold hands and walk down the sidewalk past the gym. "It's the National championship for Fighting Pokémon."

"Yeah, I can't wait," she says. "That Gym thing is getting so overdone. Misty may be a better gym leader, but her sisters were much better at entertaining the fans during battles and at the water circuses."

"Yeah, I agree," the man says. "And it's so rare that we get to host a championship in Cerulean. They usually pick the bigger cities, but I heard they are doing some sort of water theme for the match. Actually, I heard they're going to fight on top of the city aquarium, _and _Misty's Gyarados would be in that aquarium tonight."

"Wow, that does sound exciting," the girl says.

I watch them walk out of earshot, and continue to scratch the feathers on the back of Pidgeot's neck. He bows low, cooing at the comfort.

My stomach grumbles and Pidgeot coos his agreement. I take my drawstring bag off and open it. All I have is three packs of Pokémon food. I open two of them and pour them on the ground for Pidgeot who pecks at each pellet. I open the last pack and force myself to munch on them slowly. I try to imagine that they taste like beef jerky, but they don't. Even though I'm hungry, they still taste like expired, crunchy chocolate pellets.

I sit down on the grass next to my friend and finish off the food. I let my eyes fall heavy to let the moment sink in. I remember Pikachu. I remember Professor Oak. I remember all the Pokémon. I remember Team Rocket. I see Professor Oak's blood covering the carpet, drenching Bulbasaur.

I open my eyes. I don't cry. I want to be furious, but I can hardly feel anything right now. I look at the grass and try to think of the happy ending, but I can't. It feels too different. "When did Team Rocket start killing people for no reason?" I whisper. "I know they don't like me– that's an understatement–, but to just kill Profess- to just kill a man the way they did today; this is worse than anything they've ever done."

I look at Pidgeot as he finishes off his meal. I know it's not enough, but we'll get some food and supplies later. Misty will probably get us some food before we leave.

"Ash Ketchum," the speaker says, and I stand up quickly. "Leader Misty will see you now."

I look at Pidgeot and nod toward the door. He hangs his head and walks after me. I feel bad for making him go inside, but he's going to have to get over it. "C'mon, buddy. Misty's waiting for us."

We walk through the door as the front-desk lady thumbs through her magazine. Without looking up, she says, "She's waiting behind the stadium in the refreshment area."

"Thank you," I say and walk past her with Pidgeot stalking behind me. We walk through the curvy hallway in the middle of the huge aquarium. I look around for the Gyarados, but I don't see it anywhere. I see her Starmie and Corsola sitting on the aquarium floor below, and Politoed waves at me as it swims by. I smile at Pidgeot to see if he's feeling okay, but he keeps looking around nervously. I feel bad for my buddy, so I speed up a little to try to get this over quickly for him. We pass the entrance to the stadium and walk the the circular path around it. Finally, we reach the door labeled _Refreshment Area _and walk in.

"Hi, Misty," I say as Pidgeot ducks under the door.

"Hey," she says. She's sitting on the couch, which is facing the side wall, as she holds her phone up pointed at her. She smiles, touches a button on her phone, then brings it down to look.

"How have you been?" I ask.

"Good," she says. She hasn't looked at me yet. She's just looking at her phone with her other hand supporting her head.

"I heard there was a fight tonight," I say, trying to get her to talk to me. It's not as easy talking to an old friend as I thought. "Championship fight. Are you going?"

"I was going to because Gyarados will be there," she says with a sigh. "But my boyfriend is coming to my house tonight. You can have the ticket. It's on the table behind you."

I look at the table and pick up the ticket. It's a good seat- front row. "Thanks, Misty. So who's your boyfriend? Is he nice?"

"He's _amazing_," she says, looking up at the ceiling and pushing her chest out. "I can't _wait_ to see him tonight. _All _of him."_  
_

"What's his name?" I ask, ignoring the overflow of insinuation.

"Jon Dickson," she says. I feel like I've heard that name before. "He won the Silver Conference. Right before I left."

I remember him. He was good, but I didn't know Misty liked a champion so much. I wonder if she was embarrassed by traveling with me since I lost so much, but I don't want to ask.

"Why are you here, Ash?" she says, finally turning to look at me. "I have to get ready to see Jon tonight."

I swallow. My hopes were higher before. "I need your help, Misty. Team Rocket took Pikachu and all of my Pokémon–"

"Well, that sure sucks, huh, Ash?" she says as she jumps to her feet. "You couldn't do anything on your own could you? Without Brock and me babying you, you just keep screwing up!"

"Misty, I couldn't–"

She stomps up to me, pointing and saying, "Of course, you couldn't. You never could. You never could defend your friends. You never could get anyone out of trouble on your own. You never could take action when you had a golden opportunity waiting in front of you!"

I let her finish. I only have one way to try to get help even if she doesn't want to her it. "Misty, they killed Professor Oak."

Her hands drops. Her eyes water, but she looks at me furiously. "You," she says. "You let them _kill _Professor Oak? You _let _them kill Professor Oak?! You couldn't even save him?! He's done everything for you, Ash, and you just let him die like that! How freaking worthless are you?"

I open my mouth. I don't know what to say. Is she right? "I–I–"

"No, shut up, Ash," she says. "Screw you. Go to hell. Go to hell, Ash. You're absolutely worthless. You couldn't save your Pokémon. You couldn't save Professor Oak. What can you do?"

"I–"

"Shut up!" she shouts. "What? Do you want me to just _lend_ you my Gyarados so you can lose him too? Or do you want me to come along with you for _old time's freaking sake _so you can get me killed too? No. Get the hell out of here, Ash. I hate you."

Tears rush from my eyes. I can't move.

"I said _leave_!" she yells, pushing me out the door as hard as she can. I fall on my back as she slams the door behind me. I stare up at the door, and I can hear the sobs through it.

I look up at Pidgeot. He must have left the room a while ago, either because he was cramped or because of the yelling. I wipe my face with my sleeve and push myself to my feet. Pidgeot nuzzles me with his beak, cooing. I hug him as tight as I can and whisper, "It wasn't my fault. I couldn't do anything."

He coos again and wraps me in his wings for a moment. "I love you, Pidgeot," I say. I need this friend now– now that I have no others.

He lets me out of his embrace, and I continue looking down. As we walk away together, I can still hear the sobs from behind the door and the muffled whisper of, "I hate you, Ash Ketchum. I hate you for what you did."


	3. You Jelly, Sash?

"Who you got, man?" the girl on my left shouts over the buzz of the crowd as I sit down in the first row from the boxing ring.

When no one responds, I turn to see the skinny red-haired girl staring at me expectantly. "Uh, I don't know," I say. "I got to be honest; I just got this ticket today, and I don't even know who's fighting."

"Really?" she says. "I was looking for someone to bet with, but I'd feel bad if I took money from someone who didn't even know who was fighting!" She laughs and continues, "I'm Rebecca by the way. What's your name?"

"I'm Ash," I say, shaking her hand.

"So, how'd you get such a good seat on the day of the event?" she says closer to my ear as the crowd starts to get louder.

"My friend gave it to me," I say, questioning my own word choice. "The Gym Leader, Misty. She said she couldn't come, so she gave the ticket to me because we used to be friends."

"Wow!" she shouts. "That's incredible that you're friends with Misty! Is she nice when you get to know her? Because everyone says she's a total bitch!"

I laugh quietly. "I couldn't tell you. I don't know her that well anymore."

"Well, she must be nice if she just gave you a front-row ticket right?" he says with a smile. I feel like she picked up on my solemn tone.

"How'd you get a front-row seat, Rebecca?" I ask.

"My father is Anthony," she says. "He trains Jelly."

"Who?" I say in her ear as the crowd grows deafeningly loud.

"What?" she shouts as loud as she can, but I can barely hear her.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" boom the speakers all around us in a deep voice. "Get ready for the contest of your lives, the fight of the ages, the championship of the world! Prepare for the Pokémon Martial Arts World Championship Bout!"

The roar of the crowd is insane as I try to make out individual whistles, cheers and shout-outs. "From Virbank City in the far-away Unova Region, please welcome our defending champion." The crowd goes insane for a moment as a Lucario with a small robe in front of a short, white-haired man walks out of a spotlight on the left. "He has been champion for only three months, but he is being proclaimed the greatest that the game has ever seen." He jumps out of the robe and into the ring, posed and ready. "In the blue corner, the Merciless Lucario, Sash!"

The crowd goes nuts again, and I touch my ears to make sure they aren't bleeding. "From Celadon City in our own Kanto Region, welcome the challenger." He pauses for the less insane roar as the spotlight on my right shows a small and round Pokémon in a large, shadowing robe led by a tall man with a large chin. "He has been in the game for nearly ten years, and a failure today may end his title hopes for ever." The Pokémon climbs through the ropes and into the ring, throwing the robe out. I recognize that Pokémon. "In the red corner, the Raging Primeape, Jelly!"

"Primeape!" I shout as I explode out of my seat.

"Dude," Rebecca says, grabbing my shoulder and setting me down. "There are people behind us who want to see the fight. Don't make them regret their seats."

"Sorry, Rebecca," I say, "but that's my Primeape!" I stare at her for a moment as I connect the dots. "You're Anthony's daughter! I remember now!"

"Your Primeape?" she shouts. "Oh! You're the trainer that lent Jelly to Anthony to train like ten years ago!"

"Yeah, exactly!" I shout.

"So, I'm guessing there's no chance you'll bet that Lucario for me?" she says with a wink.

"No chance I'd pick against that Primeape," I say with a smirk.

_Ding, ding._

The crowd sits down in unison as the two Pokémon approach from opposite corners. The Lucario hops around like mad as my Primeape stalks straight up to him with his gloves barely raised.

"Go, Primeape!" I shout as loud as I can.

"Ray!" the white fighter cries as it pounces into the air at the Lucario. They trade spacing punches, landing nothing, as Lucario dances around Primeape with incredible quickness. Primeape chases after him relentlessly, but somehow under control. He doesn't attack with the same rage that I remember him having, but he is just as furious. I can't decide what the difference is.

Lucario jumps high over Primeape's head, berating him with several open-palm attacks as Primeape stumbles forward. Primeape turns around to see the Lucario appear in his face, landing a full-force punch on Primeape's nose.

The crowd shouts with excitement as Primeape flies off the floor, smashing into the rubber ground of the ring's corner. The crowd goes silent as Primeape takes a moment to get to his feet. He seems okay, but the Primeape I knew would rage incessantly until he was unconscious. This Primeape seems so careful, but he still has that same irate tenor.

"C'mon, Jelly!" Rebecca yells with her fist in the air.

"C'mon, Primeape!" I yell, mimicking her. "Show your heart!"

The crowd buzzes louder as Primeape stands tall. He sniffs, wiping his nose and checking for blood, but he's clean. The Lucario dances around the ring and poses tauntingly with each hop. He beckons Primeape with his fingers.

Primeape's eyes light up suddenly, and he starts bouncing around just like Lucario, mimicking him perfectly. "Ray, Ray!" he cries as he beckons Lucario who pounds his fists together and leaps toward Primeape. Primeape dodges the attack, and Lucario shows frustration as I see Primeape's plan. Lucario chases Primeape, missing haymaker after reckless assault. That's the difference between Primeape now and when he was young. He's still wrathful, but he's not reckless. That's all it took to make him a great fighter.

"Atta boy, Primeape!" I shout. "Take him down!"

"Hcri, Hcri," Primeape chants with each missed attack. Lucario swings a wild punch at Primeape's nose, but misses wildly. He leaps and spins his body with the momentum of the miss, driving his other hand around and driving the spike on the back of his hand into Primeape's side.

Primeape flies away as the crowd roars again, but grows silent as the blood soaks the fighter's fur. He covers the mark and stumbles while pushing himself to his feet. Lucario cries to the sky as the bell dings to end the round.

"That was dirty," Rebecca says. I nod.

Anthony jumps into the ring and helps Primeape to his feet. He puts a rag to the blood mark on Primeape's side and walks him to the chair in the corner. The crowd becomes nearly silent for a moment with no action to entertain it. I lean forward to watch Anthony quickly dress the wound with rags and ice. He places his hand on Primeape's forehead and speaks seriously to him, but I can't make out a word. Primeape nods. Anthony sprays a gold and red bottle on the wound though it continues to seep, then covers it with bandage after bandage.

He stands up and gives a thumbs-up to the judges' table. Primeape's eyes are more fierce than ever. He pounds the rubber with his fist and stares at Lucario. The champion stares back.

A buzzer sounds, and each fighter jumps to his feet. "Get him, Jelly!" Rebecca yells.

I lean as far forward as I can, flexing with tension. Primeape looks to be trembling with fury, and Lucario continues to bounce around. The stools are dragged out of the ring. _Ding ding._

Primeape charges forward and lands a furious punch on Lucario's jaw. The crowd roars louder than ever as Lucario stumbles back. Primeape continues the assault and lands punch after punch, pinning Lucario to the ropes.

"Yeah!" I yell.

Lucario slips away from the trap and begins his own assault. The tone of the crowd shifts but stays thunderous. Primeape takes punches everywhere, but returns his own barrage without retreating. The blue rival jumps away and charges back with a booming fist to the challenger's nose. Primeape falls back and lets the momentum carry him through a roll to his feet. He rushes back to Lucario and jumps high in the air with a haymaker. Lucario dodges to the side, but Primeape spins with his foot extended, landing in Lucario's face.

Primeape rolls through the fall and poses as the crowd chants, "Je-lly! Je-lly!"

"Ray!" he yells as the champion jumps to his feet.

Lucario grunts and wipes his nose clean of a little blood. They each charge forward and throw punches, missing widely. Primeape leaps high and throws several punches from above, but Lucario shields his face from each punch, then throws an uppercut high, which Primeape blocks. Primeape hits the rubber and hops right back at his rival. Lucario joins him in the air, throwing a fist at the challenger's nose, but Primeape pushes the punch away as he falls toward the ground.

Lucario grabs hold of Primeape in the air and turns him sideways, bringing his elbow around and driving it into the bandages. Primeape bounces high after the strike, and Lucario drives a single fist into the failure's nose to send him flying away.

The crowd roars for the victor as the bell dings several times. The winner throws his fist in the air before his trainer can hold it up for him. Anthony jumps between the ropes and tries to wake Primeape who lies motionless with blood soaking his fur on the side and around his nose. Doctors rush to the side of the loser. Rebecca breaks down in tears. I put my hand on her knee and she grabs it. I shake my head and look down. I'm not sure how much more disappointment I can take.

* * *

Rebecca and I are still holding hands even though she stopped crying a while ago. We're sitting in the waiting room in the Pokémon Center, just outside the room where Primeape is. Rebecca made Anthony leave to eat because he hasn't eaten once all day. Nurse Joy has been in the room with Primeape for three hours since we first arrived behind the ambulance at midnight. As soon as we got there, I checked on Pidgeot who I left with Nurse Joy, so I could go to the fight. Pidgeot wouldn't let me stay with him. Rebecca and I ate right after, and she told me how Anthony has been a much better parent since I gave gave him Primeape.

That's the reason I never asked for him back. He was always training, and he meant so much to this family. If he had gotten injured while helping me, his career could have ended early. The family might have been destroyed.

As we sat in the hallway outside his hospital room, she held my hand and cried. She told me so many great stories of how they suffered a a family to make Primeape's career succeed. When I asked about Hitmonchan, she just said that he left and joined another trainer out of jealousy. When he challenged Primeape, it wasn't a contest. Hitmonchan never fought again after the embarrassment of that knock-out.

She told me stories of them all traveling together and getting lost. She told me of the most amazing fights he had won and the parties afterward. Primeape defended them from thugs even after the most brutal of fights. He had given everything on this journey to become champion.

Her tears started flowing fastest when she told me how this was likely his last fight. He's getting too old to fight in this competition, and another concussion could put his life at risk. This would be his third notable concussion, not to mention hundreds of small ones that were never recorded, and she is sure that he has a concussion. I try to tell her that he might not, but I saw how hard he was hit, and how long he was lying motionless. I saw how he deliriously reached around as the ambulance placed him in the stretcher and took him away.

We haven't spoken since that. Anthony has been in the cafeteria for nearly a half hour. I can't imagine how he is now that he has some alone time. I stroke Rebecca's hand every now and then. She leans on my shoulder, and I let her close her eyes and rest. She falls asleep within seconds. I decide to join her and close my eyes.

As soon as I do, my mind is flooded with images of blood splattering and tears flowing. I hear gunshots everywhere as Primeape's blood splatters across the carpet and Professor Oak sits next to me, holding my hand and telling me it will all be alright before pulling the trigger on Bulbasaur. Everywhere I see Pikachu waving and telling me not to do it. Constantly, I feel the tears mixing with blood on my face as it drenches my white fur and pooling around my boxing gloves as Jesse, James and Meowth bounce around me laughing and chanting, _Time to pay, need to pay, time to pay. _Every now and then, I hear the haunting words from Misty, from Pidgeot, from Professor Oak, from Pikachu, from Bulbasaur, from Primeape; the words that make me wish for the blood to drown me: _You let him die; absolutely worthless; I hate you; I hate you; I hate you._

I open my eyes. I don't know how long I was asleep, but it must have been a while because Anthony is sitting across from me. I look down at Rebecca and decide that I can't bring her into this. I thought maybe I could come here and find some help, but this family is in such hardship. I could never give them more by taking away the glue that holds them together, especially when that glue is so weak right now. Not after she told me that awful story of how her father and Primeape were all she had after her mother was murdered.

"Mom," I whisper. She could come home at any moment, and Team Rocket would kill her. I have no idea where she is, but I have to call her immediately and tell her to stay safe and far away.

I lift Rebecca slowly off of me and leave my jacket on the chair's arm for her to rest her head against. I sneak away as Anthony snores with his head back against the wall. I walk into the Pokémon Center's lobby and over to the phone booth. The lights are all out except emergency lights as one or two people sleep at the tables. The clock on the wall tells me it's 5:30 in the morning.

I turn the phone on and put in my password to deny outside access and find my contacts. I press Mom's contact info and let the phone dial her sixteen-digit number. It rings once, and I'm already worried that something has happened to her. It rings again, and I fear what Team Rocket has done to her. It rings a third time, and I can see her emotionless face with eyes wide-open and a blood stain on her shirt.

"Hi, Ash-Dear!" she says excitedly, and all of my worries disappear with my exhale.

"Hi, Mom," I say. "I love you."

"Oh," she says. "I love you too. Is everything alright?"

I look at her for a moment, wondering if I should tell her the truth. If she didn't no the severity of a vague request and came home to her death, I would never forgive myself. "No, Mom. Professor Oak was shot and killed this morning."

She gasps and covers her mouth. "Are you sure?"

I nod. "I was there, Mom," I say. "Team Rocket shot him in the head while I watched-"

"Are you alright?" she cuts in.

"I'm not hurt," I say.

"Oh, thank God!" she says relieved.

"They stole all of my Pokémon," I say.

"No," she says.

"Yeah," I say. "They were going to kill me too, but Pidgeot saved me. He's all I have now, Mom."

She stays silent for a long moment. "I'll come home on the first flight out of Unova."

"No, Mom," I say sharply. "Stay as far away from here as possible. They could go after you. I want you to stay somewhere safe until this is over."

"Ash, I have to come home to protect you!" she says.

"No, Mom!" I shout too loud. I look around to make sure I didn't wake anyone. "If you were killed because you came home, I would never forgive myself. You will stay somewhere safe until this is all over. Promise me that."

She stares at me for a very long time. She wipes her eye. "I promise, Ash. I promise that I'll do what you say."

"Promise me that you'll stay safe," I demand.

"I promise to stay safe, son," she says. She smiles. "I have Mimey to protect me, remember."

I smile back. "Good." I say a little quieter, "Thank you, Mom. I love you."

"I love you too, Ash," she says. "Stay safe. Don't let them hurt Pikachu."

"I promise," I say. "Goodbye, Mom."

"Good night, son," she says and hangs up.

I turn around and see Rebecca standing there, holding onto my jacket. I walk up to her.

"You need your Primeape, don't you?" she asks.

I look down. "I don't want to hurt your family," I say.

She picks my chin up and makes me look at her. "Our family owes everything to you because of what you did for us," she says. "We would do anything to help you."

"Thank you," I say.

She closes her eyes and pulls me closer to press her lips against mine. I don't know what to do. Emotions flood through me, burning my cheeks and raising the hairs on my neck. She kisses me again, and I give into the affection. I wrap my arms around her and kiss her over and over, releasing my emotions to her. A tear trickles from my eye.

She pulls away , and I feel as if I have told her everything; like she knows all of my secrets and all of my pain. I feel like she took it off my shoulders to let me rest for just a moment. She turns around, and I feel the weight back on my shoulders, but it feels lighter this time. It feels like I'm not the only one carrying the weight now.

I follow her back into the waiting hall outside of Primeape's room and sit down with her resting against my shoulder like before. Just as I sit down, the emergency light goes off above the door as the beautiful five, melodic beeps sound to tell me that my Pokémon is alright.

Anthony stirs awake and looks at Rebecca and me. He smiles groggily, then turns to the room. We wait for the news.

The door opens, and Nurse Joy walks out with a huge smile on her face. "Your Pokémon is going to be just fine," she says.

Anthony explodes from his chair and embraces the nurse who accepts his hug graciously. He cries in her arms as Rebecca hugs me close, laying a wet kiss on my cheek. I hold her and let out a sigh of relief.


	4. Stop and Smell the Roselia

Nurse Joy explains to us that the concussion he received could have killed him if it was not acted upon quickly. If he receives another concussion like that, he might not be so lucky. Anthony pledges that Primeape, he calls him Jelly, will never fight again because the health of the Pokémon is far more important than the sport. Nurse Joy is glad to hear this, and so am I. It will make what I need to ask him much easier. After this, Nurse Joy lets us in the last boarding room. We show our gratefulness and quickly fall asleep. I know Rebecca won't let Anthony leave before letting me ask for Primeape.

I don't remember falling asleep or even getting in bed. I push myself out off of the bed and look down from the top bunk. I must have overslept because Anthony and Rebecca are already gone with their beds made. I hope I wasn't wrong to go to bed last night.

I jump down and grab onto the bedpost before I fall. I put my hand on my light head to hold it in place before it floats away. There is a note on the bedpost, and I read it quickly to get the gist that they are waiting in the lobby for me though the individual words hardly make sense for some reason. I stumble into the bathroom, turn on the light and lock the door. My reflection looks at me. I can't tell what emotion he's wearing with his slightly open mouth. His hair is greasy and disheveled. His clothes are wrinkled. His face has red mark like lacerations from the sheets, and there are dry rivers bruised into his cheeks. He won't stop staring at me, to the point that I think he's judging me.

I splash water on my face to soften the expression I'm giving myself. Breath floods my lungs for a moment and exits suddenly, carrying away the toxic I imagine in myself.

I walk out of the boarding room with combed hair and my clothes patted down slightly to make me look reasonably coherent. I walk into the lobby amid light conversation, almost all on the subject of the fight last night. Several people point quickly the corner booth where Anthony, Rebecca and Primeape are waiting for me.

"Good morning, sunshine," Rebecca says.

"Hey guys," I say as I sit down next to her, looking across at Anthony and Primeape. Primeape is covered in bandages and has a new scar on his pig-nose, but he seems happy to see me.

"Ray, ray!" he shouts. He doesn't move though. I imagine he's still in terrible pain.

"Hey Primeape," I say. "It's been a while buddy, huh?"

"Hcri," he says back.

"So, Ash," Anthony says in his think, Northeastern accent, "Rebecca says der's something you gots to tell us."

I nod. "I'm having a hard time, Anthony," I say.

"Well, tell us da whole story, champ," he says.

I take a deep breath. "I was at the Legend Festival on Shamouti Island- I guess that was just yesterday morning. Wow. Anyways, Professor Oak was scheduled to come pick me up in his helicopter early that morning. He called me to cancel at the last minute; he said he was busy. I should have known something was wrong then. Team Rocket had already taken him hostage."

"What did he say to you?" Rebecca asks.

I have to think for a moment. I haven't thought once about what he said then. "He told me to ask Professor Ivy to give me a ride. Oh, he wanted her to bring a Pokémon."

"What Pokémon?" she asks.

"Uh," I stutter. "I-It was a Lapras. Oh! I still have it! I forgot!"

I take out the Pokéball, but Rebecca puts her hand over mine as I lower it to the table. "What else did he say?" she says.

"I don't remember," I say. "That was it really."

"He must have given you a hint," she says. "Professor Oak is one of the smartest men I've ever met. I guarantee he said something."

"Yeah," Anthony says. "He's a smart man."

I take a second, looking up at the ceiling. I look down at Primeape, right in his eyes as I say, "He told me to visit my friends." My voice trails off at the end as I start to understand what he meant. I look down at the Pokéball, connecting the dots. "He wanted me to visit my friends."

"Well, this is a good start," Anthony says.

"That's why he wanted me to have Lapras, just in case I got out," I say. "He knew I needed his help to save the Pokémon."

"What do you mean save the Pokémon?" Anthony says.

I swallow. Rebecca puts her hand on my shoulder, taking over for me. "Ash's Pokémon were all stolen by Team Rocket. They also murdered Professor Oak."

"You're kiddin'!" he whispers with eyes wide. "That's unbelievable." He looks at Primeape and rubs his fur. "Well, our family is ready to help, right Jelly?"

"Hcri!" Primeape says.

I look around at Anthony, Primeape, and Rebecca. "You mean it guys?"

"Yeah, Rebecca filled us in a little," Anthony says. "I wouldn't have let Jelly fight again after last night. He means too much to me." He pats Primeape's head as I continue wondering why they named him Jelly. I think they told me once, but I'm not sure. "Rebecca told me you needed his help, and I agreed right away. We would never have had this superstar if it wasn't for you, and I owe everything to you for teaching me to keep my family in mind. After I said dat, you walked in just as Rebecca was gonna tell me what happened to you."

"Ash, we owe everything to you," she says, grabbing my hand with both of hers. "You are part of our family, and if there is anything we can do, tell us. Please take Primeape." She puts a Pokéball on the table and I pick it up, recognizing my ID signature on the back. It's the Pokéball that I originally caught Primeape in. Finally, I remember why they named him Jelly. They told me in email that he apparently ate nothing for a week but jelly donuts as soon as I gave him to Anthony. I smile and shake my head.

"Thank you guys," I say. "I promise that I will bring him home safely to you. He may be mine, but he is your family."

"Ash," she says. "You're our family too. Make sure you bring yourself back safely."

"Thank you," I say, looking down.

Nurse Joy walks up to the table and places a third Pokéball down. "This is for you, Ash. Pidgeot is going to need a Pokéball if you go to any more events like last night."

"Thank you, Nurse Joy," I say excitedly as I pick it up and place it in line with the other two. Pidgeot, Lapras, and Primeape. Maybe, I can really save Pikachu after all.

I nod and look at my friends. "What are you going to do now?" Anthony asks.

"Well, I can't raid Team Rocket's headquarters with three Pokémon," I say with a laugh. "I need a small army."

"Professor Oak told you to visit your friends, right?" Rebecca says. "Didn't you say you were friends with Misty?"

"Yeah," I say with a sigh. "I was friends with Misty. She hasn't talked to me in years. She helped me one time after she became a full-time gym leader, but that was it. She said something about May being a bitch, and she hasn't said another word to me until yesterday afternoon. She wasn't thrilled to see me either."

"That's tough," Anthony says. "Well, what's bout that other girl you said? May?"

"No," I say. "She started dating this Drew guy, and I haven't heard from her since. Even when she was traveling with me, I don't think she was that close with me."

"So who are your other friends?" Rebecca asks.

"Well, Brock is traveling," I say, "but I can email him for help at least."

'That's a start," Anthony says. "You must have done nice things for more than us, kid. Don't be afraid to ask for a favor from peoples that owe you."

"Yeah, I guess," I say with a nod. "I could visit Sabrina in Saffron since that's so close. I kind of helped her family a lot."

"Do that," Rebecca says. "Sabrina's a genius, and if she owes you as much as you say, she could be a huge help to you."

"Yeah," Anthony says. "And she isn't as scary as she was a long time ago for some reason."

"Yeah, I'm a lot of that reason," I say with a smile.

"Oh," Anthony says. "Well then, go gets that help right after you send an email to– what's his name? Brock?"

"Yeah," I say. "I'll do that now, then fly to Saffron."

"I'd come with you if I could, Ash," Rebecca says. "but I have a responsibility to my father and the gym."

"I understand," I say. "I know-"

"Nope," Anthony interrupts. "I'm firing you right now, Rebecca. Ash needs all the help he can get, and it's about time you got out of the house."

"Really, Dad?" she says. "I mean, um, I am sorry that I couldn't serve you better as a worker-"

"Don't gimme any of that crap," he says with a loud laugh. "I know you're happy about it."

I look at Rebecca and smile. She jumps at me and throws her arms around me while I laugh.

"Ray, ray!" Primeape says.

She settles down sits back in her seat with a little embarrassment. I look at Anthony and say, "Thank you. I truly appreciate it."

"D'aw, it's nothing," he says as he leans back and scratches his head. "Don't be thinking I'll come with you though. I don't want to help you that much."

I know what a lame excuse like that means. I look at Rebecca and she looks away quickly. I wonder how long she had been staring at me. "Well, thanks anyways Anthony. Thank you, Rebecca. Thanks Primeape."

"You guys better get going," he says. "Those thugs need you to to fix 'em up."

"You got it, Anthony," I say. I stand up and step out of the booth, helping Rebecca follow me.

Anthony gets up and gives me a strong, short hug. "Take care of my girl," he whispers.

"I promise," I whisper back.

He lets go and goes to hug Rebecca. I don't watch in case he cries. I look at Primeape instead and pick up his Pokéball. "You ready to come with me pal?"

"Hcri, Ray!" he shouts and jumps up and down.

"Primeape, return," I say. He disperses into red light and disappears into the Pokéball. I hold the ball tight, then return it to my belt for the first time in ten years. I pick up the other two balls and scrutinize them for a moment. I put Pidgeot on my belt. I look at Lapras's ball, regretting that I can't let him out before we get to some water. I need to know if it's really my Lapras inside this ball. I hook it to my belt and turn back to Anthony and Rebecca.

Anthony takes a deep breath and says, "Don't forget that. You're my daughter, and I'll always love you. Come home to me soon, baby girl."

"I will, daddy," she says and gives him one last long hug. Anthony lets go and nods. He smiles at me and walks out of the Pokémon Center alone.

"Your dad is an amazing man," I say to Rebecca.

"I know," she says. She pats my shoulder and says, "C'mon. Let's get that email sent right now."

"Okay, let me talk to Nurse Joy first," I say. I walk over to her counter while she types at her computer. "Hi, Nurse Joy. Do you know anywhere I can use some water so I can let my Lapras out?"

"Ash, please," she says with a smile and that same helpful tone. "This is Cerulean City. We have an aquarium in our City Hall. Of course I have a pool in here for your Lapras. Go down the hall toward the boarding rooms and follow that all the way down. There's a room labeled 'pool.'"

"Thanks, Nurse Joy," I say and walk to the back hallway with Rebecca following close behind me. She brushes her hand against mine a couple times, but I don't grab it. I'm not sure about this.

I push open the door to the empty room with a small, deep pool. I walk in the room and pull the Pokéball off my belt. I toss it at the water and hold my breath. It opens, revealing a red silhouette of a large sea turtle with a long neck, big ears, and a horn. The Pokéball returns to my outstretched hand, and I close my fingers around it. The red cloud materializes into a familiar Lapras.

"Lya!" it cries and rushes toward me, lowering its head to me.'

"Hey, buddy," I say as I stroke his cheek. I bring him closer and rub the back of his neck. "I missed you, boy."

"Lya," he purrs and I feel the vibrations in my side.

"It's been so long, Lapras," I say. I step back and look at my old friend. "Thanks for coming back to me."

"Pra," he says.

"Hi, Lapras," Rebecca says as she strokes his cheek. Lapras purrs at her touch.

I step back and bring the Pokéball back out. "Come back, Lapras. We should get going," I say as I turn to walk out of the room. "I have to send that email, and–"

She puts her hand on my chest to stop me. "Hey," she says. I look in her eyes for a long second. They're absolutely beautiful blue. I notice how smooth her skin looks and how her auburn hair shines in the light. Her hand is still firm on my chest. I can feel my heart retaliating, bouncing against her hand. I don't know if it's trying to touch her palm or hit it away from me, but I don't move. "Don't rush." She takes her hand away slowly, letting the fingers linger and roll off. "We have to be urgent, but we can't rush. You rushed to Pallet Town without picking up on hints. You rushed to to Cerulean without learning what Professor Oak said. You rushed to bed last night without making sure that you could keep Primeape. Anthony could have said no, and you would have slept through it. When you rush, you make mistakes. You miss things. We won't take it slow, but we'll pay attention. Okay?"

"Okay," I say. I look down and inhale deeply. I let it out before looking back in her eyes. They're lighter than a moment ago. "Alright, I'll be patient. I'll pay attention."

"Good boy," she says and smirks. She grabs my hand and leads me out of the room. I relax my shoulders and follow her closely.


	5. Guardian (Stalker) Angel

The flight to Saffron City seems to take forever. Pidgeot flies smoothly, and the winds are rarely strong in our faces. Still, Rebecca makes me nervous. Her hands have been wrapped around my waist for the entire ride, and this wouldn't bother me normally. It's the way she does it that makes me nervous. I can feel each fingertip lying gently on my shirt. When the wind lifts my shirt slightly, I can feel her fingers on my bare skin to give me chills before they slowly roll off and pin my shirt back down. Her face is always right next to mine, and when the wind is blinding, she buries her head into my neck. I can feel her lips under my collarbone and her eyelashes fluttering behind my jaw, but I try not to think about them. Every curve of her body conforms to mine. I can feel her hips, her stomach, her prominent chest, her shoulders. Every time she squirms, I swallow nervously.

It's not that I don't like her, I'm just so confused. Less than 24 hours ago, I saw a man who has behappyen a second father to me shot while his blood shot across the room and across my friends. I lost nearly everything, and suddenly this girl is in my life and helping me. I am more than grateful to have her with me, but I can't help but question why she is here. First, she cries in my arms after her life was changed. Then, she kisses me with both love and lust. Then, she determines to follow me on a suicide mission. I hadn't even thought of how dangerous this journey could be for her. I don't care what happens to me as long as I have a chance to save Pikachu, but she jumped in like it was a trip to Smeargleland. I know she understands fully what could happen, but that doesn't make me feel better. Then her dad was saying things like 'take care of my daughter' as if I was marrying her. That's what it feels like. It feels like she wants to marry me, and her dad is all for it. I'm not opposed to marriage, and I like Rebecca a little, but this is moving too fast for me.

Everything is moving too fast. I'll have to get over it, or I'll get left behind. Pikachu left me behind.

Finally, we land on solid ground, and I jump off of Pidgeot immediately. My groin tingles like a buzzing bee, so I shake out my legs and shiver away the weird sensation. As soon as Rebecca slides off Pidgeot, I pull the Pokéball from my belt and say, "Pidgeot, return." I press the button, and the red laser fires to encapsulate my friend.

"Ready to see Sabrina?" she says. I don't hear her immediately, still thinking about the confusion.

She ducks into my eyesight and looks up as her bangs fall over eyes. "You alright up there, Mr. Contemplation?"

I smile and let her hold my hand. "Yeah, it's just a tough time. Thanks for being here for me."

She kisses my cheek. "Of course." She walks toward the gym as I stand behind with my hand on the mark her lips left. I want to smile, but I can't feel happy right now.

I put my hand in my pocket and follow her past a wooden bench on the path to Saffron Gym. The architecture is just how I remember it with curving creepiness everywhere. The dome looks like several hoods that assassins would wear. It seems less shadowy though. Maybe, I just remember it being scary because of how Sabrina used to be.

Rebecca waits for me at the door with a polite smile. I give a half-smile back and open the door for her, following her into the red-walled gym and psychic ward– I forgot what Sabrina calls it, but I think everyone here's crazy, so I call it the psychic ward. We walk by several rooms with people trying to bend spoons by staring at them. I laugh silently at their puny psychic powers. Sabrina turned us into dolls with a blink. She created a ghost ventriloquist doll of her younger self. She connects telepathically to her Pokémon during battle. That last part is why I consider that battle to be a real win for me in Kanto. She crackep up laughing, so did her Kadabra as well. Since Kadabra couldn't battle, technically I won the badge by battling. Though it wasn't the most honorable of my wins, it was still better than setting sprinklers off.

"This place is creepy," Rebecca says.

"Yeah, but it grows on you," I say. "Especially, if you shrink to the size of a doll."

"What?" she says.

"Don't worry about it," I say with a half-laugh.

The doors to the stadium open wide before we walk through them. I'd think they were automatic if I didn't know Sabrina. The stadium is brightly lit with a dirt floor and the iconic white paint to mark out the battlefield. There are stands in the stadium now, which is new. I wonder if she accepts guests to watch her battles now.

"Ash!" she shouts from her chair. She jumps up excitedly and runs to embrace me with an unabashed hug. "It's been too long! How have you been?"

"Hi Sabrina," I say back as she lets go. She is still beautiful in a striking, almost intimidating way with her green hair and hard, blue eyes. Turning thirty has not hurt her looks one bit. "It has been a long time. Uh, I'm not too well actually."

"I know, I know," she says, leading me by the hand, Rebecca following, to the bench on the side of the stadium. "I am terribly sorry to hear of Professor Oak's death." We sit on the bench with Sabrina on one side of me and Rebecca on the other. "His spirit sends regards and luck to you on your journey to save your Pokémon."

I lower my eyebrow back to the normal level. I should be used to her incredible power by now. I glance at Rebecca to see her gaping, and she shuts her mouth at once. "Thank you, uh, to Professor Oak, I mean."

"Of course," she says with a serious nod. She nods to Rebecca. "So, I see you have a friend with you, Ash."

"Umm, yes," I say with a stutter. I introduce them as well as I can while I sit awkwardly between their handshake. "This is Rebecca. Rebecca, Sabrina."

"Ash has said a lot about you," Rebecca says. "I see why now. You are truly impressive."

"Why thank you, Rebecca," Sabrina says with a smile. "I hope he hasn't told you about the old me. I truly was a frightening person to be around then, but Ash here changed my life."

I smile and look down, trying to avoid the inquisitive looks.

"Really?" Rebecca humors.

Sabrina continues, "Yes, I was a very unhappy girl, and I was totally obsessed with myself and my psychic powers. Ash, with the help of that Haunter her found, made me smile and brought me back to my family."

I laugh at the thought of Haunter. Rebecca laughs as well and says, "That's interesting. Because of Ash, I was able to reconnect with my father."

"He truly is wonderful, isn't he?" Sabrina says, placing a hand between my shoulder blades. I feel a warm sensation spreading from her fingers, forcing me to relax. I sit back on the bench, not realizing how far I had been leaning forward to let them talk over my head.

When I sit back fully, she removes her hand from my back and turns to me, saying, "I know you came to me for answers and assistance. Is there anything specific you would like to ask me up front?"

I nod. "Can you tell me where Team Rocket is hiding my Pokémon?"

She looks down. "I was afraid you would ask that. That is the one question I cannot answer for you. Their location must be hidden with dark-type Pokémon. That unfortunately means that I also cannot tell you whether or not your Pokémon are safe and healthy."

I swallow nervously. There is one other thing I want to ask, but I can't bring myself to make the words.

"It's alright, Ash," Sabrina says. I forgot she can read my mind anyways. "I prefer when you ask the questions instead of me having to read your mind out of curiosity. It's much better to hear your real voice than the way you think you sound."

"How do I think I sound?" I trail off at the end of the question realizing how unimportant it is. "Sorry, yes. I want to borrow Haunter to help me find Pikachu and the others."

She smiles. "I'm afraid that will be impossible, Ash."

"Oh," I say. Rebecca puts her hand on my shoulder to console me. "That's al-"

"Because Haunter has evolved into Gengar," she finishes. "You've been gone a long time, Ash. I've trained Haunter on my own as a side project in case there was an unusual threat to the gym."

"Oh, that's wonderful," I say. "So then–" I don't finish the question.

"So then what, Ash?" she says mockingly.

I laugh with her. "Can I borrow Gengar?"

"Well, that's up to Gengar!" she says. She turns her head to the ceiling and calls, "Come out, Gengar!"

I shiver as I feel a chill on my neck. "H-h-hi, G-gengar," I say.

"Geng, gengar," my old friend says with his usual, hearty and slightly eery laugh. He phases through my head, and for a moment I can see very strange things. I see waltzing spirits throughout the gym. I see Professor Oak waving at me. I see the Pokémon Tower in Lavender Town as Haunter and I flew over it and through the city. Gengar passes through, and the visions disappear.

I shake my head and he starts making strange cartoony faces at me, sticking his tongue out and squishing his face. I laugh nervously, half-remembering the way he used to act. I look at Sabrina, expecting her to giggle like on the day I first saw her smile, but instead she is sticking he tongue out and squishing her eyebrows into her cheeks to make Gengar and me crack up, laughing and pointing at her.

Sabrina calms down to an unashamed giggle. I remember the first time I saw her laugh; it was lightly with her hand over her lips. Now, she laughs fully with a wide smile.

I look at Gengar with the happiest smile I've shown in what feels like forever. "Gengar, I know I said you never had to help me again, but I need help. Will you come with me to save Pikachu and the rest of my Pokémon?"

His purple mass floats around like a dancing balloon as he looks to the corner of the ceiling in mock deep-thought. He looks back at me out of the corner of his red eye, sizing me up with a malicious grin on his face. I smile hopefully as he turns back to look at me with a comical lip of seriousness. He shakes his head.

"Gengar–" I say in disbelief. The air is let out of me.

Gengar bursts into laughter, exploding into wisps of air, which each carry part of his face. I shake my head and laugh at myself. The wisp holding his mouth laughs in front of my face before opening wide around my head and enveloping my face in darkness.

Time stops. Professor Oak's face floats in front of mine with an elated smile. My grandparents' faces float past with beautiful, young smiles. I see a cloud of ghost-type Pokémon floating through the air above a cemetery. A gravestone sits lonely on the hill with one word on it: _Pikachu_.

A flash of light opens my eyes. I try to sit up through the daze around me.

"Relax, Ash," Sabrina says. "It's okay."

I lie back as instructed. My jacket lies underneath my head as support. I look around and see that I am still on the bench. Sabrina is kneeling at my side with her hand on my shoulder. Rebecca stands away slightly. "What happened?" I ask.

She removes her hand from my shoulder and sits back. "After Gengar released you from his little prank," Sabrina says. She pauses and looks at the air to her left. Gengar materializes with his head down in a sad, but still comical way. "You passed out immediately."

"How long have I been out?" I asked.

"Would you believe three days?" Sabrina says with a smile. "We've been at your side this whole time."

"Shut up," I say with a laugh.

"It's been less than a minute, Ash," Rebecca says, inching slightly closer.

"Sit up," Sabrina says, helping me to sit straight on the couch. She smiles. "You gave us a scare there, Ash."

"Yeah, I was a little scared myself," I say with a light-hearted glare at Gengar. He looks down embarrassed. "It's okay, buddy. So, will you come with me now?"

He nods his head in a jocular motion, and I smile at him. He rushes with his arms wide and his shadow-filled mouth open.

"Woah!" I shout. "Gengar. No touching today."

He backs off, and Sabrina cracks up with Rebecca. I laugh a little, and soon Gengar joins in the fun.

"I'm glad you two are back together," Sabrina says as she hands me the Pokéball

"Gengar, return," I say as he vanishes into the ball.

Sabrina turns and looks at Rebecca through her bangs. "Rebecca, would you mind grabbing Ash a recovery drink from the front?"

"Uh, sure," she says hesitantly and walks away.

Sabrina waves her hand toward the door as Rebecca walks out of the stadium, and the doors shut behind her. "It's gonna take her a long time to get any help with all of the front desk workers on their little hipster coffee break," she says with a laugh. She looks at me seriously and continues, "I haven't told you, Ash. I started dating Grimsley from the Unova Elite Four."

"Really?" I ask with genuine interest. "That's really exciting. I always thought he was incredibly interesting."

"He totally is," Sabrina says as she rolls her eyes with glee. "I could listen to him talk _forever_."

"I agree," I say. "He's just so inspiring and real and intelligent."

"Not to mention elegant with his words," she agrees.

"Right, absolutely," I say.

"I see you have a girlie with you," she says, chiding me with a smile. She turns serious. "How do you feel about that?"

"I'm not sure," I say and pause for a moment. "Rebecca is nice. She's beautiful, much more beautiful than I remembered her. She cares for me and everyone."

"Right," Sabrina says with a nod.

"I believe that she truly wants to help me and my Pokémon," I say. "I think she's great."

"What's confusing you?" she says to encourage me.

"It's just so fast," I say. "I have a lot going on right now, and this is tough to take in."

"That's understandable," she says.

I look over my shoulder before continuing.

"Don't worry," Sabrina interrupts. "I would know if she was there."

"Right," I say. "I just feel like she is thinking about marriage already. I mean, I can think about that some day, but I'm not in the mood, and I'm too young for that, and this is a tough time, and–"

She puts her finger on my lips. "Shh," Sabrina says softly. "Calm down, Ash." My voice was raising without me even realizing. I take a deep breath to calm myself. "Are those the only reasons you're having trouble with this?"

I look down. "No," I say. I take some time before continuing. "I think it's partially what Misty said."

"I thought it might be," she says.

"She said it was my fault that Professor Oak died," I say. I try to fight back the tears. "She said if I brought her, I'd get her killed too. She said she hates me."

I try to keep talking, but I choke up. She puts her hand on my shoulder, spreading warmth through her fingertips like before. I sit up a little as the tears dry. "Thank you, Sabrina."

"Of course," she says. "I know what she said must have hurt you deeply, but you need to know that she still has feelings for you, Ash."

"Really?" I say.

"Of course!" she shouts. "You are _still _as thick as ever when it comes to girls."

I laugh nervously. "When she left to become Cerulean Gym Leader long-term," she explains, "she assumed that you would be coming back for her. She _knew_ that you would; she could feel it deep in her heart. When you didn't, she was broken. She saw you traveling with May, and she assumed it was just a friend. She saw you had a little romance with Dawn, and she thought it would be over quickly. Then, you didn't go back. Six years passed, Ash, and she finally got sick of waiting for you to tell her you loved her."

"That I loved her?" I say.

"She thought you felt that way at least," she continues. "I know you had some feelings for her at one point, but you moved on. She never did though. She still hasn't really."

"She's dating that one guy though," I say. "Jon Dickson right?"

"Yes, Ash!" Sabrina says with wide eyes as if she's trying to make me understand something. "She thought if she dated a guy that won the Pokémon League, knowing you never have; she thought that would make you jealous. She has been doing everything she can to try to get you back."

"Oh," I say. "So she didn't mean any of those things she said to me?"

Sabrina shakes her head. "Not a single one. She's still in love with you, and it will take her a long time to get over it. You were the first one she fell in love with, and when she had to leave because of her sisters, she assumed destiny would bring you together. But it didn't. She yelled at you out of frustration. She feels terrible about it still, but she's too afraid to apologize."

I nod and say, "Should I apologize to her?"

"It would make her feel better," she says. "She needs closure, Ash. It's all she's asking for."

"I can do that," I say. "I didn't know that I hurt her so much. I thought we were just friends after she left."

"I know, Ash," she says. "I read your mind regularly."

"Just mine?" I ask.

"Well, Brock's and Misty's as well," she says. "I like to see what's going on with you in the present, and I try to see your futures as well. I like to know how my friends are doing. You guys saved my life, and I want to know that you're doing well."

"You could just email me," I suggest. "You used to."

"Yeah, but you leave stuff out," she says. "Misty never responds, and Brock told me not to email him in case Lucy got jealous even though I know perfectly well that she wouldn't. She's a very understanding girl."

I try to ignore the fact that her psychic powers are somewhat stalkerish, but it's hard not to think of.

"Don't think of me as a stalker, Ash," she says, breaking my comfort zone. "I just like to know that you're alright. If something bad was about to happen, I'd tell you. Think of me as a guardian angel."

I laugh and say, "Alright, whatever. You're my guardian angel, Sabrina."

"So you'll give Rebecca a chance?" she says. "She only means well. And don't worry about your ability to protect her. I gave you Gengar back for a reason. I don't care whether or not you win the Pokémon league, but if it's to protect and save your friends, then I'll do anything I can."

"Thanks, Sabrina," I say. "I'll give her a better chance. I do like her."

"I'm glad," she says. "She'd be good for you in the future, but try not to think about marriage. Just because it's a possibility doesn't mean it should scare you. It's far away, and you have all the time and ability in the world to decide for your own who you marry."

"Okay," I say with a nod. "Thank you, Sabrina. You really are a great help."

She laughs and says, "You should ask me for help more often! I'm kind of psychic!"

"You're right!" I say. "I promise I'll ask you for help more often when I come back from this trip."

"Good, you better," she says. "I love seeing your smiling face, you know, and this depressed smile is not from the happy-go-luck Ash that turned me into a good person."

"Sorry, Sabrina," I say.

"You should be! You have a responsibility to be happy!" she says, half-joking. She turns serious and gentle. "You have such an amazing effect on everyone you meet, Ash. I'm not the only one who was helped by you. You don't even understand the life you've led. If you want to continue being that person who changes the world by changing everyone you meet, you need to be the best you can be."

"I will," I say.

"Get your friends back," she says. "It'll all be better after that."

"It will be," I say with a smile.

"Do you have any more questions?" she asks.

"Umm," I say. "What should I do next?"

"Well," she says, looking up with her thoughts, "Brock just got your email an hour or so ago, and he's planning on coming here to visit you. I suggest you wait for him because he can definitely help you. Then, continue following Professor Oak's advice. Visit your friends."

I know who she means immediately. I don't know how I came to that conclusion so easily, but it was just natural. "Charizard," I whisper.

She nods. "You can handle this from here on, Ash. Don't be afraid. You can do everything through those who give you strength. Your friends are beside you every day. You have great power inside you, Chosen One. Believe in yourself because the rest of us do."

"Thank you, Sabrina," I say.

She leans over and gives me a hug. She leans away and says, "Go find Rebecca and tell her the news about Brock. She must be going insane right now trying to find you a recovery drink. Well, I can confirm that actually. She is currently and lividly freaking out."

"I will," I say as I stand up. I smile and walk away, but the smile won't go away, and I wonder if Sabrina is using her psychic power to keep me happy.


	6. End of Blaze, End of Innocence

It took Brock nearly two full days to travel all the way from Sunyshore City in Sinnoh, but he is almost here. Rebecca and I wait outside of the Saffron City Pokémon Center for Officer Jenny's car to show up with him.

There's a light and sporadic breeze that gently blows my hair across my face. I look at the blue sky and pick out clouds to make shapes of, but every cloud I see is Pikachu or Blubasaur or any of my other friends that Team Rocket took from me. I look down at the grass as my mood starts to shift into regret and sadness, but I quickly remember Sabrina's demand of me. She said I "have a responsibility to be happy," and I think I know what she means. She said if I want to help people, I need to be at my best. I look at the horizon ahead, seeing tall green tree after tall green tree, and I think of all the Pokémon living happily in that forest. I remind myself to smile.

"It's been a while since I've seen Brock," Rebecca says.

"Yeah, me too," I say back. The conversation sputters to a stop. Maybe, we're both just so excited to see Brock, but I feel like Rebecca is jealous of Sabrina for some reason. She hasn't said very much since we left, and Sabrina's trick to get her to leave has probably made her very nervous. Telling here that Sabrina's dating Grimsley didn't help the silence either.

A police car pulls in front of the center, and a Growlithe hops out immediately to sniff the area. Officer Jenny climbs out and struts up the path to the center with a smile on her face. Brock steps out of the car and stretches his arms overhead.

"Hey, Brock!" I shout as I walk toward him.

He grabs my hand and shakes it firmly as we smile at each other. "How are you, Ash?" he asks as he pulls me into a hug.

I laugh, missing my best friend. "I'm glad you're here. I need help."

"Why don't we go inside?" he says as he leads me toward the Pokémon Center with a hand on my back.

Rebecca is still waiting at the entrance for us. "Hi, Brock. Long time, no see," she say with a smile.

"Rebecca, how is your family?" he says.

"We're doing really well, thank you," she says as we all enter the Pokémon Center.

"Hi, Brock," Nurse Joy says immediately, interrupting her tense conversation with Officer Jenny. She walks up to him and looks down while mumbling, "I saw your article in Pokémon Medical Monthly, and I just want you to know how amazing I thought it was!"

"Thank you, Nurse Joy," he says. "I love the work you've done with Saffron City. I doubt Sabrina would be such a successful gym leader without you help here."

"Oh!" she says. She hides her face from view and walks back to the counter where Officer Jenny is waiting for her to continue the conversation. Before she leaves ear-shot, she mumbles, "Thank you."

I look at Brock for a moment with an eyebrow raised, but he doesn't look back. He's busy on his phone, checking some sort of news, but I don't look to see what it is. Rebecca is looking at him with the same expression, and she turns to look at me. I open my mouth for a moment, then close it. She laughs and turns away.

He puts his phone away and says, "Ash, I am truly sorry about Professor Oak. I'll be at his funeral in Pallet in two days, but I suggest that you don't attend."

"Why?" I ask, feeling almost hurt.

He puts his hand on my shoulder and leads me to a booth where we sit, Rebecca beside me and Brock across, as he explains, "Team Rocket is too dangerous. They could be spying at Professor Oak's funeral, and I guarantee that they are currently on the look for your head."

"But this is so unlike Team Rocket, Brock," I say. "They've never done this before."

He nods. "You're right. But I imagine they are under some sort of great pressure. Either way, the reason for their sudden aggressiveness is irrelevant to us. We know that they have these new tendencies, and we can only react. I will not allow you to attend the funeral."

I look down and take a deep breath. I nod and look back up at him. "I need to do something soon, Brock. I need help."

"That's why I came, Ash," he says.

"So you'll help me?" I ask. "Will you come with me?"

He shakes his head and smiles. I really did expect him to come with me. Maybe, I was just missing the old days. "I'm sorry, Ash. I have responsibilities to uphold as a doctor. There are Pokémon everywhere who need my help, and if there is a tragedy or natural disaster, I have to be there immediately."

"I understand," I say. "I shouldn't have asked you to step away from that."

"It's alright, Ash," he says. "I didn't come here just to say good luck though." He places a Pokéball on the table. "I visited an old friend of ours, Ash. He's missed you."

"You said you were came from Sunyshore City, huh?" I say with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

"Who is it?" Rebecca asks.

"Why don't you say hi?" Brock says.

I pick up the Pokéball and toss it into the air. A large, red cloud appears beside our table, materializing into a huge purple and black bat with a scorpion's pincers and tail and massive fangs. If I didn't know how nice this Gliscor is, I would be terrified by the two-meter tall Fang Scorp Pokémon.

"Gli," he says with that snarky tone that I've missed so much.

"Hey, Gliscor," I say to my old friend. He smiles at me, but his fangs are so creepy that it doesn't feel like a nice gesture. "I'm so glad you're here, buddy," I say and turn to Brock to continue, "Thank you, Brock. This really couldn't be better."

Brock laughs and shakes his head, saying, "Don't lie, Ash. I know you want me to come with you, but I do have more good news."

"What's that?" Rebecca asks before I can say anything.

"I have two train tickets for you to Goldenrod City," he says as he reaches into is pocket, pulling out two small cards. "I know you have something to do in Johto."

I chuckle as I pick up the tickets. "Thanks, Brock," I say.

"What's in Johto?" Rebecca asks.

I don't look up from the tickets but smirk and say, "The Charicific Valley."

* * *

During the train ride to Goldenrod, we talked constantly about Brock –both his fiancé, Lucy, and the reaction of Nurse Joy. As soon as we arrived in Goldenrod, we left on Pidgeot's back for the Charicific Valley near Violet City.

"Hey, Ash," Rebecca shouts as we get close to the Valley. "What's with all the smoke?"

"It's the Charicific Valley, Rebecca," I shout over the wind. "It's full of dozens of Charizards using dozens of fire-type attacks. There's bound to be fire and smoke!"

"Still," she says gravely. "That's a lot of smoke."

I see what she means. The entire sky above the Valley is black with smoke.

We land outside the Valley's gates, between the two ethereal Charizard statues. The smoke from behind the stone double-doors stings my eyes and burns my nostrils. I hesitate. I know I'm welcome in the Valley, and I know that the smoke is probably just the aftermath of a fight, maybe even a tournament. My flying friend fidgets nervously.

I pull out a Pokéball and toss it forward. Primeape materializes out of the ball in a red silhouette, which vanishes to reveal his furry body as he says, "Ray!"

"Primeape," I say, "could you open this door for us?"

"Hcri!" he shouts, pounding his fists together. He walks up to the door and puts both hands on it, but jerks them away quickly with a shriek.

"Ash, there's fire behind the door," Rebecca says.

I nod. "Sorry, Primeape," I say. "I didn't mean for you to get burned."

"What are we going to do?" she asks.

"I don't like this," I say. "We need to find out what's going on. Primeape, break down that door with Brick Break,"

"Hcri!" he shouts as he jumps high in the air to come down on one stone door like a hammer with his extended hand.

The door shatters at his attack, releasing black smoke like water from a broken dam. "Pidgeot!" I shout. "Use Whirlwind now!"

"Dgyot!" he shouts. I hear his wings flapping behind me, but I can't open my eyes. I feel the force of the wind his wings create, and the heat from the smoke quickly disappears.

I open my eyes as the wind fades, but the fire is right behind the doors. I step back and pull another Pokéball from my belt, tossing it at the pool behind me. "Lapras, take out this fire with Rain Dance!"

"Lya!" Lapras cries out, letting the shout ring and echo. Clouds quickly cover the sky above the smoke and bring down light rain. The ground sizzles behind the wall of smoke.

"Pidgeot," I say, "another Whirlwind."

"Dgyot!" he shouts. He unleashes another barrage of forceful air from his powerful wings, blasting the smoke away.

"No," I whisper. The wind dies.

I stumble forward through the gate. I walk through the rain, looking around me. I can barely see anything.

"Hcri!" Primeape shouts. Something breaks.

All I smell is smell is burning flesh. All I hear is the sizzle of dying flames in the rain. All I taste is the dryness of my choked-up throat. All I see is the dozens of smoldering corpses of Charizards.

I stop. I look around. Everywhere, they lie with burnt flesh. Some didn't close their eyes. Some have their forked tongues hanging from their mouths. None of them have fire on the ends of their tails.

I hear a low grumble from my left. I look to see one Charizard moving slightly among the bodies with a lit tail. There's a bow on her head.

"Charla!" I yell and run toward her. I bend down and place my hand on her cheek, trying to comfort her. She doesn't appear to have any serious burns. "It's going to be alright, Charla. I'll help you out of here if you just–"

She cuts me off with a clawed-hand on mine, pulling it away from her face. She looks down at her body. I see a pool of blood beneath her, and I can only assume the worst. I bow my head and let tears fall onto her face, hoping they will take away her pain.

I feel a hand on my shoulder, and I turn around to see Rebecca. "We should look around. We might find something."

Charla looks at me for a moment before closing her eyes and relaxing into the ground. Her torso continues to heave. She doesn't have long, but I don't know what I can do.

"Charla," I say. I don't know what else to say. She blows smoke from her nostrils in response. I nod and stand. Rebecca grabs my hand and leads me away from the dying girl. I can only think of where my Charizard is. I know already in my heart what has happened to him, but I pray that he is alive anyways. I know Charla must be thinking of Charizard as well.

We walk among the rocks as the small plants burn. We walk between massive Charizards that must have been forty or fifty years old and seven or eight feet tall. They aren't very intimidating now.

The smell is assaulting my nose, and it's beginning to smell more like burning plastic and polyester.

I see a larger collection of dead Charizards here, but they are all huddled around a point. I step closer to the center of the circle, and I find a young woman with spiky, green hair, a small red top with odd shoulders, and red shorts. I'm not sure how Liza got separated from Charla during this battle, but it doesn't seem to have mattered. She is motionless with a puddle of blood surrounding her head.

"Ash, look at this," Rebecca says. I tear my attention away from my dead friend, the one that helped me in so many ways, and bring it to Rebecca's command.

Despair and hopelessness flee my body immediately to be replaced with unbridled rage as I see what she is standing next to. Beneath her on the ground are three dead men, dressed in all black. On each of their shirts lies a large, red "R."

"Team Rocket," I whisper between my teeth. "You will die."

"Ash," she says, "we need to stay calm and look for–"

"I can't stay calm," I say. I walk over to one of the Rocket corpses and stomp with all my force on his leg. I was hoping for a gratifying snap, but there was none.

"Ash," she says. "You need to."

I will kill all of them. They killed Professor Oak. They took Pikachu and enslaved him along with all of my Pokémon. They killed every Charizard in the Charicific Valley along with the human that gave her life to those Pokémon.

"Ash," she says."Come on, Ash."

My breathing accelerates rapidly as I find myself desiring nothing but to let these evil people die. No, they can't just die.

I have to kill them. I can't be merciful ever again for what they've done, and I will only be satisfied when every single one of them suffers the most painful, intimate–

"Ash," Rebecca cuts my train of thought, "you're shaking."

I didn't know I was shaking so violently. My eyes close and my breath shudders in and out slowly. "I'm sorry."

Her hand touches my side, and I flinch. She pulls me closer as I slowly let my shoulders sink lower. "Try to calm down, Ash," she says. "Help your friends, but revenge will help no one."

I nod. "Maybe," I start, but choke on my dry throat. "Maybe, we can find a clue from these grunts."

"That's a good idea," she says as she strokes my side gently. Her touch makes me feel calmer, and I let it linger a little longer before I pull away to search the bodies dressed in black. Rebecca bends down and searches one body while I check the other two, looking for anything useful.

I find one handheld GPS in the third man's boot. I turn on the touchscreen and find a denied S.O.S. was sent less than an hour ago by this man. The battle must have ended just before we arrived, and it must have been quick.

"Look," Rebecca says, "it shows the current position of the S.O.S. rescuers. They're still at the base, _here_."

"Yeah," I say as I recognize the place they make headquarters. "Off the shore of Cianwood Ciy. We should get going now. I stand up straight and start walking away, but Rebecca grabs my wrist.

"What about your Charizard?" she says.

"They came here with a goal," I say. "Team Rocket has Charizard, but I will get him back somehow. I will destroy their headquarters for him. I will turn all of Johto into a battlefield if it will help me save Charizard, Pikachu, and the rest of my Pokémon."

"So no revenge?" she says.

I don't reply for a moment. I could give her the answer she wants. I don't want to lie to her. She knows it's on my mind. "If Jessie and James never chant their motto again; if Meowth never says another word; if Giovanni loses everything he has, then there's nothing I can do about that."

"So you won't go out of your way to try to kill anyone?" she says.

I don't look at her. "No."

I won't go out of my way. They're already in my way.


	7. Disabled

The ocean sparkles under the late afternoon sun. Waves roll lazily toward and away. I take a deep breath as I look across the last distance between my Pokémon and me.

"Pidgeot, return," I say with a quick glance at him before he vanishes into the red silhouette.

Rebecca grabs my hand, making me remember that she's here for me. "I'm here for you, Ash," she says, repeating the words she already said in my mind.

"Thank you, Rebecca," I say. "I'll need all the help I can get today."

"You don't have to do it, Ash," she says. "You could just tell the police, the National Guard would come in–"

"If anyone was going to take down Team Rocket," I interrupt, "they would have done it already. I can't take them down. I just want my Pokémon back."

She squeezes my hand and lets go. I reach to my belt and pull out another Pokéball, tossing it in the shallows. "Lapras, help us out," I say.

"Lya!" he says.

I nod and jump on his back. Rebecca climbs up after me and I rub Lapras's neck gently. I pull out the GPS to relocate exactly where this base is and point straight out to sea, saying "Lapras, take us out."

"Lya!" he cries and pushes himself off the shoreline into the water.

"So," Rebecca says as I put away the GPS, "you're not trying to hurt anyone. We're getting on the base, and then trying to sneak your Pokémon out. Right?"

"I'll explain it one last time," I say, "but we need to stay quiet after this just in case."

"Okay," she says,

"When the base appears on the horizon, you will ride Pidgeot through the sky and try to find a safe way to land on the base," I say. "I will ride Lapras's back until we are close enough to dive for an underwater entry. We'll meet on the Southeast corner of the base behind the nearest cover."

"And if I can't land," she interjects, "I circle overhead in view of you. You'll cause a distraction, and clear a path for me to land."

"Right," I say. "After we meet up, we'll split up and search separately through the base."

"Okay," she says. "Perfect."

I look out on the ocean and see a small dot, poking out of the water. "That's the base," I say as I pull out a Pokéball. "Go, Pidgeot. Be careful, Rebecca."

"You got it," she says. Pidgeot appears, flying over the water, and Rebecca gingerly climbs on as Pidgeot struggles to support her inexperience in riding solo. She gets on stably and waves me goodbye before taking off high into the clouds.

I watch ahead as the base gets larger, taking a more defined shape. It looks like an overseas oil-plant with large crossing beams extended into the ocean to hold the platform steady on it's edges, but the meat of the base retreats far under the ocean. I rub Lapras's neck to calm my nerves. I can see a steel crane on the base, standing idly. As I get even closer, I can make out a few people on the deck.

"Lapras, dive," I whisper though we're still far out of ear shot. I take a deep breath and hold it as we fire through the current of the sea and toward the base.

I sit tight, holding onto Lapras's shell. He hurls through the water, but it's already been thirty seconds. I'm worrying if I took in a deep enough breath to make it. We just have to make it to the shadows, and I can breathe. Just the shadows. I swallow nothing, praying the nothing will turn into oxygen. My lips and teeth stay clamped shut. Just the shadows. I let out my exhale in sight of the shadows.

We emerge, and I cover my mouth immediately to stifle my loud inhale. We stay underneath the base for a moment, so I can make sure we weren't heard and I can catch my breath. We are completely out of sight. I bet Pidgeot is already circling over the base, behind the clouds.

I stand up and reach for the crossbars underneath the base platform. I pull myself up slightly, checking my area with just my eyes. I'm behind a stack of metal crates, and I look around quickly to make sure no one can see me. I hold on with one hand and reach down with the other to grab Lapras's Pokéball and press the button to call him back. I pull up silently onto the deck, rolling close to the crates for cover.

I look up at the clouds, trying to see Pidgeot, but he's well-hidden. I know he can fly up there for a long time, and he'll have to do just that. He won't have a chance to make a safe-landing. It would have been good to attack the base from two sides in case one of us got caught, but I wasn't going to risk her. At least if I fail, Pidgeot can take her away and get help. Maybe, the police will come if they think Team Rocket has me and is guilty for Professor Oak and the Charicific Valley massacre, which likely hasn't even been found yet.

I pull out Gengar's Pokéball, press the button, and Gengar's silhouette pops out with that mischievous smile. I put my finger to my lips before he can start cracking jokes. He puts on a face of mock seriousness and darts to the crates. He looks around with fake nervousness and points his fingers skyward like he's holding a gun in a James Bond style.

I want to smack him on the back of the head, but I know that will end in missing, which may force him to burst into laughter. "Gengar," I whisper, "I really need your help. Focus!"

He stops and turns to look at me. He bows slightly, waiting for me to fill him in.

"I need you to be invisible," I whisper and he immediately vanishes. I know he's still listening. "I want you to look around here. Check the floor below us, and see if you can find us a safe way to get down there. Short out the security cameras with Disable. Then come back here."

I see his red eyes appear quickly, flashing his acknowledgement. They vanish, and I turn my back to the crate again. I sit and wait, hoping for the best.

"What'd you do that for?" a man shouts.

"What the hell are you talking about?" a man with a deeper voice says.

"Shut the hell up, asshole," the first one says. "There's no one else here!"

"Keep talking," the man with the deep voice says. "I'll tear out your jugular."

I smile. Gengar found a way to have a little fun without doing anything stupid, and that is fine. I'm just glad he's doing what I ask instead of taking this time to crack jokes.

The purple, wispy mass appears again, bowing. He looks at me, waiting for commands.

"I need you to help me phase through the walls with you," I say. "Take me somewhere on the lower level where we will not be spotted."

He bows again and grabs my hand. I look at my transparent hand and see the floor through it, but I'm not invisible. We drop through the steel-platform.

I feel incredibly nervous as we pass through. If he were to let go of my hand on accident, I would be severed into dozens of pieces, dead before I knew it. I wouldn't even scream.

We make it underneath the base, hovering above the water in the shadows close to where Lapras and I were earlier. He pulls me farther, phasing through the wall in front of us with just his head. After a moment, he pulls me through with him into a long, curving, metallic hallway with fluorescent lights. My opaqueness returns, and I drop to the floor with a very light thud. I look around as Gengar watches me intently. I nod at him and he smiles mischievously.

"Alright," I say softly, turning right. "We'll go this way. I want you to scout ahead with invisibility. Disable cameras and phase through walls." I make waving hand signs between the walls. "Make sure no one is coming out. If there is anyway we could get caught, come back and phase me somewhere safe or turn me invisible with you." I look him in his red eyes. "If you find any Pokéballs or cages, take me there immediately."

He head forward and vanishes. I follow after him slowly, tensed. As we go farther down the hall, I force my shoulders to sink and my steps to be less careful. My eyes don't stop darting back and forth though. I trust Gengar, but this is nerve-wracking.

I descend a small set of stairs to the third level below. The occasional windows show the empty, blue ocean. The hallway is as quiet and metallic as ever. I cross one failed bulb before descending another flight of stairs.

Almost immediately after I reach the fourth level below, an invisible hand grabs me and yanks me to the wall. I nearly shriek, but bite down on my tongue to bring tears to my eyes immediately. I taste iron in my mouth as thick liquid seeps from my tongue between my teeth. I look down at my feet and see nothing.

Footsteps echo down the hall like metal clanging on metal. A long, light shadow approaches from down the hall, changing shape. The clanging echoes grow louder. My hands feel drenched with sweat and my heart pounds in my head.

The hall rotates, revealing a tall, skinny man with short, brown hair. He's dressed in all black with the red R covering his shirt.

I don't recognize him, but he reminds me of every other Team Rocket member. He reminds me of the blood on Professor Oak's floor. He reminds me of the dead Charizards spread across the Charicific Valley. My shaking stops. As he passes, I try to jump out at him, but I can't move. I try to look at Gengar, try to plead to let me attack him, but I can't move a muscle.

He passes out of sight. The echo of his footsteps pass out of earshot. Gengar appears at my side and floats down the hall, disappearing before he rounds out of sight. I'm still frozen against the wall. I see nothing for a long time. Sweat drips down my nose to make it itch. I worry that he left me.

Gengar appears suddenly in front of me and touches my hand to release me from my motionless cage.

I stare at him for a long time, trying to think of a way to scold him for stopping me. I wanted to tear that guy apart. He stares back with a genuine hardness that I have never seen in those huge, red eyes. I know what he'd say to me if he could speak. I let my eyes soften. He backs away, then turns to head down the hall, vanishing before he turns the corner.

The rest of the floor is uneventful. I nod to let my anger fade. Gengar was right in what he did. I would have ruined the entire rescue over one grunt. I'm glad he disabled me from moving when I think about it, but I would have torn him apart. I still want to tear him apart for what they did to the Charizards and all of my friends.

I force myself to focus again as I walk down to the fifth floor below. There are low roars echoing from down the hall. I can't imagine what they must be doing to whatever poor Pokémon is down there, but it sounds agonizing.

Gengar returns to me in sight, and I stop, cocking my head. He beckons me to follow as he turns his back. The roaring gets louder as we continue down the hall. My skin chills.

I recognize that roar.


	8. Fire's Fury

I stand outside the chrome door. Charizard's roars echo through the walls, stinging my skin. I have never heard him in pain like this. I'm afraid just to go inside and see him.

"Geng," Gengar says, looking at me.

I nod. He grabs my hand and pulls me to phase through the door. I look straight ahead as I emerge from the door into a dark room covered with steel-plated walls and foreign-looking technology. Charizard is bent forward with his head up and wings stretched to the sides. Hooks dig into the thin, green skin of his wings as fresh blood drips over the dried. Shackles –covered with barbs and surging with visible, blue electricity– restrain his wrists near his ankles. His chin rests on a bed of rusted and blood-soaked iron. He looks at me, but I don't think he even sees me yet. A hypodermic needle, connected to a rubber tube and held by a long mechanized arm, lowers slowly and implants quickly into his spine, in the base of his neck. His roar nearly shakes me off my feet as I continue to watch. A bubbling, green liquid flows through the tube and into his body, eliciting a slightly higher-pitched roar from his throat.

"Gengar," I say robotically. "Disable the machines and phase Charizard away from them."

The electricity vanishes, and Charizard falls to the floor with a painful grunt. He tries to push himself up. The metal floor shakes as he collapses back down.

I take a pink and white bottle from my jacket pocket and attach a hypodermic needle to the end, regretting that I have to cause him further pain. I inject the needle into his neck, bringing a near-whimper from the usually fearsome dragon. The pink liquid flows coldly into Charizard's veins. I know it's painful, but I need to get Charizard out of here, and I know the only way to get him and the rest of the Pokémon out is for Charizard to be ready to fight.

He blows smoke out of his nose and opens his eyes slowly to look up at me. I kneel down next to him and rub the side of his face. "I'm sorry, Charizard," is all I can say.

He pushes himself up with significant effort, grimacing but acting tough. He stands straight and stretches but recoils with a grunt. He takes a long breath and finally looks at me with his equivalent to a smile. I return the most genuine smile that I can.

"I need your help, Charizard," I say. He nods. "We need to save the rest of the Pokémon and get out of here. I don't have a Pokéball to carry you, so you'll have to fly–"

Charizard extends his left wing and looks over at it. I stop and look at the holes in his wing and realize my mistake. "Okay," I say. "We'll find a Pokéball for you somehow. We'll just have to search around a little harder in the decks beneath us."

Charizard grunts and blows more smoke in agreement. Gengar gives his creepy smile and chuckle. I nod, trying to psyche myself up for what's about to happen. I don't even know what's about to happen, but I'm trying to raid Team Rocket's base with a team of Pokémon that I haven't interacted with in years.

"Who's in there?" a man's voice shouts from behind the steel door. "This is a restricted area!"

"Gengar," I whisper, "use disable when he walks through the door."

"Geng," he whispers back, chuckling more.

The door slides open to reveal an unassuming Team Rocket grunt who seems frozen by fear at first. I realize that Gengar has already disabled him.

Charizard roars and flames immediately consume the man in a blaze of sadistic horror. I duck away and look up at the man again to see that the flames have vanished to leave nothing but charred bones and ashen pieces of flesh. I look up at Charizard to see him panting from fury, not exhaustion. He's shaking.

I dismiss my initial appalled reaffirm and reaffirm my hatred. I remember the other reason we're here. It's not just to save my friends. "You're right, Charizard. We're here for revenge."

"The hell is going on over here?" someone shouts in a female voice from the hallway. "What the hell?"

A woman with long, black hair in her black Team Rocket uniform rounds the corner of the door and looks at us. I start stalking toward her slowly and I feel my Pokémon close behind me. "You can't be here," she says, backing away with failing intimidation. She reaches into her pocket and pulls out some kind of remote. She presses one button and the alarm begins to sound throughout the base. The lights dim as red flashes replace them. Constant beeping and buzzing floods my ears, echoing through the hall and in the room we're in now.

"You'll be dead soon," she threatens, dropping her gun before she can draw it.

"Gengar," I summon. "Have some fun."

He chuckles and floats toward her, enveloping her head with his mouth. Muffled screams elicit from within his closed mouth.

"Hurry up, Gengar," I say. "We have lots to do, and you're still on scouting duty."

He releases her as Charizard and I emerge into the red-flashing hallway. She collapses backwards onto the steel floor, and her face looks pale even though illuminated red.

"Good work," I say. "We need to hurry. Go find the rest of the Pokémon immediately, and come back here. We'll be waiting. Very patiently." I smile at the last thought, thinking about what will likely happen while we wait.

"Geng," he says, smiling creepily before disappearing into the floor. I make myself a personal promise to have even more fun than he will before returning.

I release the rest of the Pokémon with me. The red silhouettes quickly disappear and reveal their forms, each showing a hard face. I turn to each one and give directions. "Gliscor, take Primeape and cause as much havoc as you can. Draw attention away. Be careful."

"Gli," my creepy bat-scorpion-friend replies with a smirk.

"Hcri!" Primeape shouts and beats his chest as he hops on Gliscor's back. Gliscor blasts floor above us with Giga Impact. I can already hear yells of terror and the rhythmic beating of Primeape's fists.

I'm concerned for them. I want everyone to come home, but I need to make sure any of us go home. I need them to draw attention away, and no one can do that better than Primeape with Gliscor's help. "Lapras, keep an eye on the walls and Ice Beam any holes. A flood is the last thing we need. If you're not busy, Ice Beam Team Rocket."

"Lya!" he cries and blasts the hole Gliscor left with an Ice Beam. I didn't think of that, but that would have been dangerous.

"Good job, Lapras," I say and turn to Charizard. "Charizard, cover me here. Kill anyone you see, but stay here with me."

He blows embers out of his nose and turns toward a stampede of footsteps coming our way. They come in sight, then die into the darkness between flashes before being illuminated by encasing flames from Charizard's furious roar.

I nod. I lean down to the woman that Gengar killed in what was likely an incredibly terrifying fashion. I pick up the gun she dropped and check the safety. I check her body for anything else, but there are just more magazines. I stash them in my pocket, hoping that Gengar returns quickly. I haven't ever liked using guns, but I don't really want to be at a gunfight with anything less than a gun.

I can hear running footsteps and aim as well as I can. My hands are surprisingly steady. I thought I might be more apprehensive about killing someone. It doesn't feel wrong though. It feels very right actually.

The man turns the corner and falls backward immediately. Blood pools around his head suddenly. I hadn't even realized that I had pulled the trigger. I would have thought it wasn't me if the gun hadn't recoiled. It was easy. Like pulling an adolescent tooth to get money from the tooth fairy.

The sirens continue to blare and blend in with the rest of the screams around me. I hear more roars and flames from Charizard, quickly followed by screams cut short with ashen choking. His flames start to burn through the hull, and I hear Lapras begin to solidify the the steel walls and floor. I am shocked by the little amount of attention I'm getting while Charizard continues to blow people away. I am facing the hallway to the upper levels though, which means that the grunts must be all heading to the upper decks.

"Geng!" I hear behind me suddenly, and turn around with my gun ready to fire. Gengar is unconcerned, likely because he could just let it phase through him. He waves his hand around and shoots off in Charizard's direction.

"Lapras, return," I shout as I recall him to his Pokéball. "Charizard, clear a path and let's move!"

Charizard roars again and charges forward with flamethrowers blasting from his behind his jaws. We descend the spiraling levels quickly, running without becoming tired. All I can think of is the hope that one will slip past Charizard so I can shoot him. Still, I hope it isn't Jesse or James. I want to have the chance to speak to them before I kill them.

Sixth level, seventh, eighth, ninth.

Gengar takes a sharp left into an open passage. As I turn into the room, I see that the door that once guarded it has been blown open from the inside, likely by Gengar when he found the room earlier. I summon Lapras from his ball, and he ices over the door without order.

The sirens are muffled by the iced passage, but I can hear the men outside trying to beat their way through the ice. It will take them too long to reach us, I know, but Charizard stands guard at the chance that he'll get to kill more of them. The room is large with low ceilings, made of aisles like a grocery store, and each aisle is filled with Pokéballs. Gengar darts right, and I follow him into the third aisle from the right wall. He stops in the middle of the aisle and turns left, gesturing to a section of Pokéballs. He places his hand inside a ball that is labeled _3948 Bulbasaur_ and quickly takes his hand away. He changes his face to appear like that of a frog's as his back shapes itself like a flower bud. He levitates on all fours and some sort of dark energy trickles out from his sides like whips.

I nod and look around. There is a bag on the other side of the aisle with several pieces of technological equipment inside, so I grab it and dump the contents. I quickly fill the bag with every Pokémon from my Bulbasaur to the last of the thirty Tauros. I regret that I can only fill the bag with my Pokémon, but it's all I have room for. If I try to carry too many bags, I'll never make it out. Besides, the police can arrive after Team Rocket has vacated the area.

I take Bulbasaur's ball from the bag, curious to make sure it is my Pokémon even though Gengar checked by phasing into the balls. I press the button, but nothing happens. I press it again, and nothing happens. I check a few more Pokéballs, but they are all completely dysfunctional. I take out Lapras's ball and aim it toward its owner while pressing the button, but it is also frozen in immobility.

My heart sinks. Charizard needs a Pokéball. It's his only way to leave this base. If he tries to swim out, he'll drown immediately as his tail extinguishes. His wings are too injured to fly. He's too heavy for Pidgeot or Gliscor to carry.

I can't tell him yet. I just have to act like everything is fine. I'll carry a Pokéball back for him, and maybe it will work later. I grab an empty ball from the shelf and turn to Gengar. "You're sure these are all my Pokémon, Gengar?"

He nods and replies, "Geng geng!"

"Where's Pikachu?" I ask.

His ghostly face turns grim. He points down through the floor.

"Is Pikachu alive?" I ask, afraid of the answer.

Gengar nods.

I sigh relief. "Is he okay?" I ask next.

He shakes his head.

I nod back and sling the bag over my shoulder as I run toward the iced-over door. I shout, "Charizard, blast through the door and take them all down!"

Charizard roars immediately and sears the broken doorway along with the half-dozen men trying to break through it. He jumps out of the entrance and blasts flames on either side to the chorus of further screams.

"Lapras," I shout, "ice beam the floor and follow us further down. We'll need you soon."

Gengar leads us again as we descend. Tenth, eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth.

As we arrive on the bottom floor of the base, we find ourselves amid a huge, circular room. Blue and yellow electricity surges visibly everywhere in a frightening fashion. I look around. There are no sirens on this level. The only light comes from the streaming bolts of lightning. The only sound coming from the center of the room as the cry of a Pokémon.

That was the only sound until I hear footsteps from the center of the room walking to greet me. I see the figures emerge into my view, and recognize them by their silhouettes. I've finally gotten good at recognizing them. The last figure emerges slightly behind them, and there is no mistaking who he is either.

The cry of the Pokémon rages louder than ever as the lightning bursts brighter.

"Chuuuuu!" he cries.

It doesn't sound like Pikachu's cry.


	9. The New World

"Pikachu, what ha-" I can't finish the question. My jaw hangs as I look at my old friend.

I watch the electricity flow painfully into his body, only to be released in a brilliant display of lightning. The machine goes silent for a moment and dims until my friend disappears, but not before he whimpers, "Rai. Raichu."

My eyes start to water, but I suppress it. I look over at the figures who continue to approach me.

"What do you think, Ketchum?" Giovanni asks in his most threatening voice.

"I think I'm gonna kill you," I say, shaking violently, but I'm too furious to even move.

"You see, Ash," he replies as I notice that he used my first name, "that is exactly what I intend to do to you."

"Why now?" I say. "What changed that you are just now deciding to kill innocent people?"

"Turns out," Meowth announces in that offensively annoying voice of his, "de boss man really respects you, twerp."

"What?" I say. Charizard is fidgeting next to me, but I put my hand on his shoulder. Part of it is to stop him from getting anxious, but I need the calm as much as he does.

"You've done more good for our organization than you realize," James says. "You destroyed Team Aqua, Team Magma, and Team Galactic for us. You even led to our direct promotion after we claimed to have defeated Team Galactic ourselves, but the boss was wise to us of course. He promoted us because he began to recognize the skill that you have at defeating crime organizations."

"That's right, brat," Jesse spits. "Our main goal for the last several years was to recruit you into Team Rocket any way that we could, which often led to us trying to steal your Pikachu and forcing you to come to Headquarters."

"I would never joi–"I start, but Giovanni interrupts me.

"Unfortunately for you, we have given up completely on that pipe-dream. We decided it would be much easier to kill you and steal your Pokémon, but of course you thwarted us one more time before we finally got what we want."

"Little Sammy just happened to be de unlucky guy with all of your Pokémon," Meowth says with a disgusting grin.

"How could you kill him?" I mutter.

"Professor Oak is a respectable man," Giovanni says. "It is unfortunate that we were unable to avoid the cost of his life, but there is only so much we can do."

"You're a monster," I say with a snarl.

"I'm the monster, am I?" he asks surprised. "You sent your Pokémon to murder today. You left your friend high and dry above the base when she only wanted to help you."

"What did you do to Rebecca?" I shout.

"Nothing of course. She is no threat," he says. "However, it would only have been too easy to shoot her down with your precious, abandoned Pidgeot."

"I never abandoned–"

"Sure seems to me like you left him," Jesse says. "Even I have never abandoned a Pokémon like that, twerp."

"But I'm not finished, Ash," Giovanni says. "You also sent your beloved Pokémon to die just earlier. You have no idea if they are alive, and quite frankly, I don't either. You have no idea what happened to them, but you sent them because you needed a distraction. Worst of all, you killed a man today, Ash. You shot him down in cold blood. How does that makes you feel, monster?"

"Shut up," I say.

"Rai!" my friend cries as the electric machine begins to rage again. It slowly dissipates as his cries die into moans.

"I'm sure you know who that Raichu is, don't you?" Giovanni says.

I nod.

"It sounds like he's in a _terrible_ amount of pain, doesn't it?" he mocks.

I can't respond. I wait for him to continue. He begins to pace as the overhead lights illuminate the bowl-shaped room. All of the technology seems to be arranged concentrically around the machine Raichu is hooked up to.

"Can you believe that this one Pokémon is responsible for powering this entire submerged base?" Giovanni says, gesturing grandly at the room. "Quite impressive, I think. Your old friend is incredibly powerful."

"So he's a battery, now?" I say. "Years of trying to steal him, and my old Pikachu is just a battery."

"Oh, no," James says. "This is only his temporary home."

"Yes, only temporary. Don't you worry," Giovanni explains while wagging his finger at me. "You see, while he is powering this base, he is releasing excess amounts of electricity. This excess electricity is being funneled back into his body to dramatically increase the amount of electricity he can store as well as the potency of his electric attacks. Of course, these tasks would not have been possible while he remained as a Pikachu."

"Why are you doing this to him?" I ask.

"But can't you just be happy for your little Pikachu," Jesse says with a mocking, childish voice before releasing a detestable smirk. "Oh excuse me, I mean Raichu."

"Why are you doing this?" I shout.

"Two reasons, Ash," Giovanni announces. "First, your Pikachu was born with a special genetic makeup. He is destined to become more powerful than all but the greatest of legendary Pokémon. After, of course, he is infused with the DNA of Mew. His electric powers will be increased one-hundred fold by his new psychic energy. He will be a new breed of Pokémon, a new generation. Soon all Pokémon will follow in the footsteps of his glory. All Pokémon will become as powerful as Raimā. This will be the new world."

"You're sick," I say. I feel so weak for not having a better insult.

"I'd rather be sick than dead," Meowth says. Jesse and James laugh to humor him. Giovanni and I lock gazes.

"What's the other reason?" I ask.

"Our organization is going bankrupt, actually," he replies. I raise an eyebrow. "It may be shocking, but we had to bank our future on this operation. We could afford no failures, so we decided that destroying our chances of recruiting your talent into our ranks was simply not worth the risk of Team Rocket being destroyed."

"Then why not kill me now?" I ask.

"I am merciful, Ash," he says. "I will ask you one time only. If you refuse, your life is forfeit."

"Don't bother," I say. I'm ready. Charizard roars. Lapras cries out.

"Very well then," he says. He seems sad actually. "James."

James pulls out a small pistol and shoots Lapras and Charizard before I can finish blinking. Darts stick out of their necks as they fall limp to the floor.

"Don't worry, Ash," Giovanni says again. "We wouldn't kill such wonderful Pokémon. Lapras will be worth some amount of money, and that Charizard will likely undergo a similar transformation as Raichu if it can survive the tests as well as Raichu."

"Are long are you going to talk before you kill me?"

He sighs. "I hoped you would reconsider. Very well. Jesse."

She pulls out the gun slowly. I look down the barrel for a moment. I'm just glad that I got to see my Pokémon one last time.

The roof collapses to the right, and a blur of white blasts into the chamber. Jesse flies across the room as the gun fires inadvertently, missing widely. I slowly pull the gun from my waistline Primeape's fist connects with James's jaw, shattering it immediately as the other fist spins around to crack Meowth's skull. I stare right between Giovanni's eyes, and the barrel of the gun follows my gaze as he frantically reaches for his own weapon.

He pulls it out just as his face his consumed with blood. His skull turns inwards for a moment and begins to fall back as the blood gushes around his head. I fire again as he falls, and his body recoils as if from pain though he must be dead by now. I fire again. I pull the trigger one more time, but nothing comes out. I toss the gun aside.

Primeape shrieks and points up. I nod and run over to the machine Raichu is hooked up to and look for a moment. Primeape walks up and punches it as hard as can, shattering the steel. Electricity surges through the machine into Raichu for a moment, but it quickly dispels as he absorbs it completely. I pick him up gently and hold him tight to my chest.

"I missed you buddy," I say.

Primeape shrieks his urgency. I point at the other two Pokémon and say, "What do we do about Charizard and Lapras?"

He nods. "Hcri!" he shrieks loud enough to make my ears ring.

Gliscor crashes in though the ceiling, widening the hole that Primeape just made and picks up Lapras in his claws. Primeape picks up Charizard and throws him onto his back with an incredible show of strength. Gliscor bashes through the ceiling just as another alarm goes off, turning the base into a flashing blue.

"Warning," a mechanized voice says. "Base hull is weak. Heavy leaks detected on floors five and six. Warning. Base hull..."

"Go!" I shout as Primeape jumps up into the hole and follows after Gliscor. I run as quickly as I can up the stairs. I run around the circular halls of the base to each new flight of stairs as quickly as I can, not trusting the elevators. Eleventh floor. Tenth floor. Ninth floor.

I'm exhausted. My legs are stiff and weak. My run slows to a a labored stagger. The bag of Pokéballs on my back feels like the weight of the world.

Raichu squirms in my arms, moaning in agony. He shocks me lightly, and I dig as deep as I can. I run with all my effort through the halls and jump up the stairs. I breathe with all my might though my lungs feel as if they'll collapse. Eighth floor. Seventh floor. Sixth floor. I run through ankle-deep water that gets deeper as I continue up the stairs. As I reach the fifth floor, I can hear water gushing inside, and I sprint faster out of fear.

"Rai," he whimpers in my arms.

I sprint through the water, splashing and panting. I slip and panic but turn onto my side to protect Raichu. I look ahead as I scramble to my feet and see the hole in the hull as it barely holds onto its icy patch-up though water gushes through the center to widen the hole further every moment. I sprint past the hole and clear the fifth floor. I can feel safe for now, but I continue to trudge up the stairs and across the fourth floor. I'm nearly there. I just have to keep going.

One man stands in my way. He stands strong before the stairs to the third floor. I don't recognize him except as a member of Team Rocket with jet-black hair, cut short on top of a built physique. He raises a gun toward me, and I stand petrified. I was nearly there.

"Chu!" Raichu shouts as lightning bursts from his body and fries the man where he stands. I only felt the shock in a minor way. His control has increased along with his power despite the agony and exhaustion I know he feels.

"Thank you," I say, stuttering before I say Pikachu. "Thank you, Raichu. I love you, pal."

He rests in my arms though he continues to breathe heavily. I steel myself and jog up the stairs. Third floor. Second floor. First floor below.

I finally reach the top of the base, and all I see is destruction. Gliscor and Primeape destroyed everything. Dozens of crates and barrels lie wasted along with hundreds of bodies. I see Gliscor resting with Lapras in the center of the platform. Next to them, Primeape and Charizard are collapsed against each other. Pidgeot perches a distance away among wreckage. Rebecca stands next to him with her arms crossed and tears in her eyes. I drop the bag but hold tight to Pikachu.

"I'm sorry," I say. I can't think straight. I feel like I might collapse here.

"You left me there," she says. "Not only was I scared to death for you, I thought you left me to die. Instead, you murder hundreds of people and risk the lives of yourself and your Pokémon."

"I'm," I say, trying to think of words. "I'm sorry."

"Fuck you, Ash," she says. "The police on their way to pick us up via helicopter. You'll be taken in for questioning, I'm sure. I don't know what else they'll do to you, but I know you'll deserve it."

"Rebecca," I say as Pikachu squirms. "I'm sorry."

She shakes her head at me. "You're a monster."


	10. Blue Skies and the Ripple-Effect

When the helicopter picked us up, I fell asleep immediately. They said I slept for 16 hours straight, including on the stretcher to the ER after the helicopter landed.

At this point, the death of Professor Oak had consumed the nation in grief. After I left, it took a few days for anyone to notice that Professor Oak was dead. Of course, everyone I told assumed the police already knew, so they did nothing. This only led to more questioning for me when the trial of Professor Oak's murder came, but I was quickly found not guilty since the rest of my story rang true. I was also tried for the attack on Team Rocket of course, but self-defense was a pretty good defense in the court room. As for anything else, the courts mostly forgave me. I assume they were thankful that I took down Team Rocket because the government wouldn't take them down.

Rebecca didn't forgive me as easily as the courts did. When I woke up, she was at my bedside, but she didn't say much. After I was released from the hospital, we walked out together, and she told me everything she had been thinking about since she called me a monster.

"I'm sorry for calling you a monster," she said. as we walked away from the hospital. We were heading to the Pokémon Center to see Raichu and Charizard.

"It's alright," I said after a moment. It took me some time to stop thinking about that after Giovanni had just called me the same word.

"What happened down there?" she asked.

"Gengar got me past the guards," I said. "We found Charizard right away in the middle of some torture device that was probably going to mutate him. Gliscor and Primeape made diversions for us to continue down to find the rest of the Pokémon in storage, but Pikachu wasn't there. We went the rest of the way down and found Raichu hooked up to some machine that was fueling him with electricity and then taking it back to power the base. He was supposed to evolve into some kind of super-Pokémon. Giovanni called it Raimā. Giovanni, Jesse, James, and Meowth were all there waiting for us, and they tranquilized Charizard and Lapras right away. They were about to shoot me, but Primeape busted in and saved me. I killed Giovanni. I got Raichu out and ran up and out."

She was quiet for a moment. "How many people did you kill, Ash?"

"Just one other guy, and then Giovanni," I said.

She didn't respond.

"What?" I asked.

"I just didn't know you were capable of killing people that easily," she said.

I was about to respond about how it wasn't that easy and I thought about it a lot afterward. I stopped when I realized what she was saying. It wasn't that I killed, but that I was a killer. That was all I was to her now. "I didn't have a choice."

"There were other options," she said.

"I didn't see any," I said.

"You could have let the police take care of it," she said.

"I couldn't leave my Pokémon there," I said, staying calm. "I couldn't wait while my Pokémon were sold and mistreated. I couldn't wait while Charizard was being tortured." I was tearing up now. "I couldn't wait while Raichu was mutated and enslaved."

She didn't respond for a while. "I just–"

She stopped. I waited, but she never finished.

We walked into the Pokémon Center. I dazed through some chatter with Nurse Joy. Raichu and Charizard were both fine. She gave me a Pokéball with Charizard inside and told me to make sure he ate and got plenty of rest until he was fully recovered. She said the same for Raichu as she placed him sleeping in my arms. Rebecca and I sat down at a booth as Chansey brought us sandwiches.

"I'm sorry for leaving you up there," I said. "I just didn't want you to get hurt."

She stayed silent for a little. "I can understand that. I would've slowed you down."

"No, it's not–" she cut me off.

"No," she said. "It's true. You wanted revenge, and you didn't have time to wait for me. I couldn't have been any help down there anyways."

I opened my mouth to disagree, but I didn't say anything.

"I just wish you would have told me," she said. "I was so paranoid, waiting for when we supposed to go down or if we were going to get shot. I needed to know!"

I nodded. "I'm sorry. That wasn't fair to you."

"Do you think you're going to go to jail?" she asked. The trial hadn't begun yet.

"I don't know," I said. "I'll do what I deserve, but I know I did the right thing."

She stares at me for a while. "No." She stands up and walks away for a second, then comes back. "No, Ash. I can't accept that you _did the right thing_. You murdered two people, and sent your Pokémon to murder hundreds of people, not even thinking of whether or not your friends would make it out okay. How can you possibly say that you did the right thing?"

I stared right back.

"How many people would you kill with your own hands, Ash?" she said. "How many people would you kill just to protect your Pokémon?"

"As many as it takes," I said. I didn't blink.

She sighed in defeat. "I can't live with that. A life is a life, Ash. Killing is wrong no matter how you look at it, and there is always a way around it. You killed for revenge, and you say that you did the right thing."

I didn't respond as she looked at me. Her face softened more and more.

She walked away. I finished eating my sandwich and said thank you to Nurse Joy. I left the Pokémon Center, and I never saw Rebecca again.

* * *

It's been one year since Raichu evolved. We haven't had the chance to do much as far as training, but I have seen how incredibly strong he is now. Charizard has also gotten much more powerful. I keep my Pokémon with Professor Elm now since Professor Oak's lab has been turned into a memorial and museum. It raises money to support the education of aspiring Pokémon Professors.

The trial has finally ended. I have to admit that I feel as if I got off a little easy. I did some pretty serious violations of vigilante crime-fighting, and I sent my Pokémon to kill humans, not always out of self-defense. I'm not asking for a different result though.

I'm traveling to travel the Sinnoh region again. It's always had my favorite site-seeing. There isn't much point in trying for the Pokémon League. I'm not emotionally prepared to embark on that kind of adventure right now, and I would only have four months if I were to attempt it.

Raichu and I are walking along Route 209 to Solaceon Town after having arrived in Hearthome City. The sky is blue in the midday, and the scenery is very plain. A dirt road beneath us and grass everywhere else. There a re a few Pokémon going around the area, but none look confrontational.

I can only think about what is going to happen now. I couldn't go back to Pokémon Leagues. That's for very young people. I need a destiny. I need a purpose.

"How have you been, Ash?" a woman's voice says from a jeep driving by.

"Oh hi, Cynthia," I say surprised. She hops out of the jeep and embraces me with a warm hug. She sweeps her hair out of her face and smiles.

"I heard about you in the news," she says. "I'm glad to see you're alright."

"Thanks," I say. "How have you been?"

"I'm alright, but anyways," she says with her hand on my shoulder, "what are you doing in Sinnoh?"

I shrug. "Site-seeing."

"Where are you heading?" she asks.

"We're going to stop in Celestic Town," I say. "Then we'l head to Lake Valor."

"What are you hoping to accomplish at Lake Valor?" she asks as if she's accusing me of something.

I look away. "I just thought it'd bring back memories."

"Are you looking for Azelf?" she says very seriously.

I nod.

"Ash," she starts. "Ash, you can't just go to Lake Valor and hope that Azelf will appear to inspire you or give you advice."

I look down.

"It's not healthy," she says. She smiles suddenly. "Besides, I can give you as much advice as you need."

I can't stop myself from smiling back. She waits for me to say something.

"Chu!" Raichu says.

"Is this your new little Raichu?" she says, leaning down to pet him and rub the spots on his cheeks. "He couldn't look much healthier. I can tell from here how strong he is."

She looks up at me. I stop smiling as I realize that she has.

"What are you really looking for, Ash?" she says.

I don't respond right away. She stands up, taller than me still. I look to the side and sigh. "I guess," I say, "I'm looking for the reason I'm here."

"That's a noble quest," she says, "but many people never complete it."

I nod, not making eye contact.

"Are you frustrated that you have never become a Pokémon Master as you dreamed since you were young?"

"Yeah," I say.

"What frustrates you more?" she says.

I sigh again. I wasn't prepared for these questions. "I've been thinking Cynthia."

"Go ahead," she says.

"I've seen so many Legendary Pokémon," I start. "Most people are lucky to see even one in their entire life, and I've seen an incredible amount. That alone makes me feel like I'm supposed to do something."

"Continue," she says.

I didn't know I had more to say, but I decide to try, "Uh, well, I didn't think all of these things would happen. Pikachu evolved against his will. I'm still trying to cope with that even though he has fully."

"What have all of these things taught you about yourself?" she asks.

I take a moment with my chin resting between my thumb and forefinger. "I love Pokémon. I want to protect them, especially my friends."

"I can give you that chance, Ash," she says.

"What do you mean?" I ask with my head cocked.

"How would you feel about joining me?" she says. "I know that you have enough talent and conviction to accomplish any task. I think that your place in the world is to protect Pokémon everywhere."

"What do you want me to do?" I ask.

"I will be joining with Lance of the Pokémon G-Men to destroy the ripple-effect of Team Rocket's work," she says. "I'm sure you know of Giovanni's plan to mutate Pokémon."

"Yes," I say somewhat confused that she knows what happened.

"He loved his monologues too much," she says, laughing. "Well, on a serious note, a new crime organization has taken over Giovanni's goal to mutate Pokémon. This could change the world for the worst. We don't know much about them, but we have to put a stop to them immediately."

"Thank you, Cynthia," I say, but she interrupts me before I can turn her down.

"Dawn will be with us," she says. I think she winked at me, but it's hard to tell with Cynthia.

I think for a while. She smiles at me.

"Rai! Raichu!" my buddy shouts.

I laugh quietly and let the smile fill my face. I don't say yes or no as I climb into the jeep's passenger seat. The smile doesn't leave me the entire time.

Maybe, this is the destiny I've been looking for. Dawn is there. I can save the Pokémon. That might be ideal.

"I thought you'd show up," she says with a definite wink.

I look out at the sky with Raichu on my shoulder.


End file.
